


fight through the dark (and find the spark)

by lesducks



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Magic is present, Medieval AU, flynn and willie are siblings because i said so, nick and carrie best friends supremacy, the boys don’t die but they do get frozen in time, trust in the magic bucket...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:27:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 38,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29271720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesducks/pseuds/lesducks
Summary: Luke, Alex, Reggie and Bobby were the greatest knights of their generation - facing countless enemies and emerging undefeated. Until they encounter one enemy that’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. When Luke, Alex and Reggie end up trapped in time, saved by two friends who want nothing to do with an adventure, the future of a kingdom ruled by evil rests on eight poorly equipped teenagers.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Nick/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 58
Kudos: 87





	1. clocks move forward

A chilling gust of air whistled through the night. Four boys stood at the mouth of a deep cave, leaves rustling in the boughs of trees that formed a circlet around the entrance. They were clad up to their necks in plated, iron armour, and each equipped with a sword strapped to their belts. 

“Heads up boys,” Luke Patterson stepped forward, chin held high. “This isn’t worse than anything we’ve faced before, we can do this.” 

He had to be confident for his team, even if he wasn’t. Even if he was terrified. 

A boy with dark, side-swept hair moved forward to join Luke, peering into the darkness that lay ahead. Eventually a blond came to Luke’s other side, a guarded expression on his face. He placed one hand on the hilt of his sword and nodded as if to reassure himself of what he was about to do. Only one boy lingered behind. 

“Bobby, are you with us?” Reggie, the dark-haired knight, looked back at his friend, veiled concern lighting his gaze. Usually none of the boys were the type to hesitate or hold back; charging recklessly into battle was what had earned them their renown as heroes, some of the youngest knights to receive that amount of prestige. There had not yet been an enemy they hadn’t defeated, no human had rivalled them in battle. But that was what gripped Bobby with fear in the moment, the knowledge that what they were about to face might not be human. 

“Yeah. Yeah I’m with you,” he mumbled, looking around the empty woods one last time. He took his place beside Alex, who put his hand on Bobby’s shoulder and offered him a soft smile, which Bobby returned. 

“Together?” Luke looked at his teammates.

“Together.” 

Together, they started the descent into the cave. 

It seemed a lot deeper than any of them had been anticipating, and they trudged along in the darkness, not knowing how big or small the space they were travelling through was. After ten minutes or an hour, the shadows gave way to a wide, arching cavern, edged with stalagmites. A still, colourless pool was in the middle of the cave, carved deep into the stone. It shimmered slightly, as if reflecting light, and the opening was much brighter than the tunnel, but there was no light source anywhere, at least not one the boys could see. 

“You think it’s down here?” Alex murmured, hand to his side, preparing to unsheathe his sword in a split second. 

“It has to be,” Luke said, voice low. “This is where the king’s mage saw it, right?” 

“So why am I looking at an empty cave?” Bobby marvelled at the intricacies of the natural architecture, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful, but if there’s nothing here then we’ve wasted our time.” 

“There has to be something!”

“Let’s just look around,” Reggie suggested, motioning to the walls, “There’s letters on the walls: I don’t know what they mean, but that’s got to be worth checking out!” 

The other three boys widened their eyes in surprise when they looked closer at the rock. Carvings of a language none of them had ever seen sprawled across the wall. Reggie ran his hand across one of the words and read it out loud. 

“Exsuscito.” 

All at once, two things happened. The four knights were scattered on the floor by a sudden shaking of the floor, scrambling for their swords, and a burst of light exploded from the pool. Streams of red and purple, blue and green, pink and orange burst out from the earth, swirling and intertwining until they concentrated into one white beam. It shot up into the air, pulsating for a few moments. Shocks of movement sent dust and debris crumbling down from the ceiling of the cave, and the sound of clattering rock against stone echoed around the walls. Bobby clung on to a pillar of rock.

The light disappeared as suddenly as it had come, and floating above the water where the light had shone was a flickering mass of shadow, beating in a rhythm almost like a heartbeat. The tremors stopped a second after, Bobby slid to the floor, resting his back against the rock he’d sheltered behind. 

“What is it?” Alex called from where he’d stood himself up, sword drawn and pointed at the centre of the cavern. 

“I don’t know but I don’t like it,” Luke shook his head. 

“Finally. You’re here.”

A booming voice emitted from the dark shape, which was growing in size. Reggie’s jaw dropped and Luke gaped, moving his mouth silently as he grasped at something to say. Laughter rang through the air and the voice spoke again. 

“But allow me to change into something more apt for you three to comprehend.” 

Bobby gasped involuntarily then slapped a hand over his mouth. 

It didn’t know he was there. 

Now the shadow took a vaguely humanoid form. Standing at nearly eight feet, the Shadow’s eyes gleamed an indescribable colour, and a toothless grin etched across its face. 

Luke breathed in and made a sweeping motion with his sword, “I don’t know who you are, or what you think you’re doing, but you will stop terrorising innocent people,” he growled through gritted teeth. Blood trickled down the side of his head where he’d been caught in the quake. 

“Or what, little soldier?” 

“Or you’ll start to wish we never found this cave,” Alex joined Luke. The Shadow laughed again. Alex and Luke glanced at each other, then charged forward.

A few feet away from the pool, Reggie fervently looked around with a worried look on his face, searching for something. Above the shouts of his friends, he moved around the edge of the pool, and drew breath to shout for Bobby but stopped when he heard Luke’s screams. 

“Luke!” Alex cried out, reaching for his friend. Luke had held his own for a surprisingly long time, apparent by the mildly shocked expression on the Shadow’s featureless face. The fight raged, sword on substance, until shadowy tendrils made contact onto Luke’s skin where his shoulder pad had been torn off, and as he did, he was outlined in a flash of light that covered him entirely, before becoming the light. What used to be Luke floated as a white flame in the air for a second, before being sucked into the depth of the pool. Reggie threw himself onto the floor beside the pool, reaching into the water yelling Luke’s name, before he suffered the same fate as the knight before him. 

From behind his safety pillar, Bobby heard everything. Alex’s hoarse voice calling for the friends who were no longer there, the laughter that hadn’t stopped the entire time. He risked looking around the rock, and saw the Shadow standing over Alex. He leaned down and forced the boy’s head up, speaking directly to him. 

“I’m impressed with how long you’ve lasted boys, and while taking my victory this night has been immensely enjoyable, I must admit I’m a little disappointed.” 

Wisps of shadow curled around Alex’s face as he shut his eyes, trying to block out the voice. 

“I was told by my confidant you were the best this land had to offer. If that’s true then all my worry was for nothing.  
“However, the three of you have a fighting spirit enough to sustain me for at least a couple of decades,” he let out a low chuckle, “A blink of an eye for my lifetime. And I see no reason why I do not deserve a rest, and at the end of the 25 years I will take great pleasure in destroying your home, with you watching three in the front seats.” He placed two fingers on Alex’s head, sending him into the water with the other two. 

A noise at the entrance of the tunnel caused the Shadow’s head to snap up. His eyes narrowed as he caught a glimpse of a figure running into the darkness. 

Bobby ran and didn’t stop. Didn’t stop when he thought about how his friends were gone. Didn’t stop when a ferocious roar thundered from the cavern. Didn’t stop as he pushed through bushes and branches, tears streaking his face.

At daybreak he reached a village he didn’t recognise, and crawled into an open building. He curled up in a pile of straw, a bed that was far from comfortable but felt like a feathered mattress to him. He didn’t realise how much he aches until he woke up a few hours later, to an older couple leaning over him. Their faces were etched with worry, and Bobby didn’t know why hesitated when they asked him his name. 

“Trevor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the set up for the story! Credit should be given where it’s due to my friends who put up with me wildly and probably incoherently speculating about this idea before coming up with a more solid one! Consistent posting does not exist, but it shouldn’t be too long before I can introduce the other characters in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed!


	2. on the edge of something big

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well that was your fault for thinking I’d get up before sunrise.”

“Dad?” 

Carrie Wilson called into the other room as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, then reached for a pair of boots. Her father appeared in the doorway, his own hair twisted into an elaborate knot. 

“You called, m’lady?” He said in an over the top accent, and laughed at his own joke as Carrie raised her eyebrows.

“I’m going out to meet Nick in the square, you don’t need me today right?” 

“Shouldn’t do, you helped with the crops yesterday so that’s you done for a while.” 

“Thank you,” Carrie sighed in relief, standing up when she’d finished tying her shoes. 

“Be back before sunset,” he reminded her, “And don’t go too far out of town, you never know what you’ll find.”

“I think you’ve been going to too many of those fireside ghost storytellings,” Carrie lifted a thin overcoat from its place by the door. She gave her dad a quick hug, then pushed the door open, half-walking half-running down the hill their house stood upon. It was further away from the main body of the village than any other houses, but Carrie didn’t mind. In truth, she enjoyed being away from everyone. Nick said that when she was around other people it was like a time bomb, and when the timer ran out she started getting angry, irritable. And she’d admit, some days that timer was a lot shorter than others. The only people who got a free pass were her dad, Nick and Kayla. Carrie, Nick and Kayla had been her best - and only, but that’s besides the point - friends since as long as she could remember, the only reason Kayla wasn’t coming that day was that she’d fallen sick for the past week or so. Eventually, the thick grass she was wading through gave way to a path of mud, tracked into the ground over many years by footsteps, and soon that mud turned into the cobbled pavings of the village. 

Leaning against a fence bordering the town, Nick’s straw-blond hair marked him out. He was fiddling with a strap on an old bag he was carrying. 

“Hey!” Carrie shouted at him as she approached the fence. He shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand and waved at Carrie with the other. 

“I thought we agreed to meet dead on sunrise?” 

“Well that was your fault for thinking I’d get up before sunrise,” Carrie scoffed.

“Not even for me?” He asked.

“Nope,” Carrie responded. Nick held his hand over in heart in pretend-offence while Carrie continued, “If Kayla were here…” she considered it for a second, “Maybe. But just you? No.” 

Carrie smiled wryly and Nick chuckled, offering her a small satchel. 

“C’mon, we’re going to get some food before heading out to the woods.”

“I didn’t bring any money,” Carrie confessed apologetically. 

“It’s okay, I’ll get it for the both of us,” Nick shrugged as Carrie took the bag, awkwardly trying to fit the strap around her head and onto her shoulder. After thirty seconds of struggling she managed to get it comfortably on, patting herself down and trying to remain dignified. 

“Don’t.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Nick assured her, but his eyes twinkled with silent laughter. 

“You didn’t have to say it! I know you’re thinking it!”

“Carrie I don’t know what on earth you mean,” 

“Yeah, sure you don’t,”

Playfully arguing, the two of them made their way through the streets, past thatched roofs and poorly kept gardens, until they reached a bustling marketplace in the centre of the town. Nick turned to a stall with a wide table, covered in a small variety of foods, and started talking prices with the vendor. When Nick stopped talking prices and started just talking, Carrie knew it would be a while before he was done. She hovered on the edges of the crowd of people, looking over the wares on offer, being careful not to get close enough to be asked whether she was browsing or buying. She managed to make a full circuit of the market before Nick was done.

“Thank you! Have a nice day!” Nick smiled at the person staffing the stall before returning to Carrie, patting the bag resting on his hip, now half-filled with food. 

“A feast fit for a king,” he announced, and Carrie let out a short laugh. 

“If our King’s meals can fit in a small bag like that then I can’t tell if it’s better or worse he doesn’t feed the rest of us properly,” she crossed her arms, facing away from Nick. Nick’s face fell, then he gently nudged her with his elbow.

“But hey, I guarantee this bread tastes better than stewed swan or whatever he’s feeding himself up in there.”

The edges of Carrie’s mouth quirked up. 

“Ah yes. How terrible it must be, having to eat only the finest of foods all day long,” 

“Awful, right?” Nick made a fake retching sound and Carrie giggled. They turned to exit town, but stopped when a clipped voice sounded behind them. Standing on a crate, much to the person he’d stolen it from’s dismay, a small man dressed in the king’s signature indigo unraveled a scroll he’d procured from his pocket. 

“Hear ye, hear ye,” he began.

Carrie rolled her eyes, “Oh boy, here we go,” she muttered. Nick shushed her, listening intently. 

“It has come to that time of year in which young people across the land are cordially invited to try their luck at being initiated into the King’s own army.  
“As has been done every year, anyone who wishes to attempt the tournament can apply, regardless of previous experience. The King’s soldiers will provide a month-long training for all applicants, to bring out the best in each and every one.” 

The messenger paused, his eyes scanning the crowd who had now formed in the square.

“Six days are left to sign up, our King hopes you will make the right choice.” 

He hopped down from his podium and rolled up the scroll, climbing into a carriage Carrie had only just noticed and being pulled away by two cart horses. The gathered crowd stayed in silence for a few moments, before a fervent murmuring sprang up again and people resumed whatever they were doing. 

Nick whistled, “Do you want to go and serve your King, Carrie?” He asked mockingly. 

“Ha! No,” she waved at where the carriage used to be dismissively, “I’m just fine staying here, I’ll be a farmer or dressmaker or something. Having to wear heavy armour and run around after people with swords all day sounds incredibly unappealing.” 

Nick furrowed his brow in thought, “It would be nice to have people praise you for swinging a sword around, but to get to that point you’d have to actually be good at it.”

“Are you saying I wouldn’t be an amazing knight if I wanted to?” Carrie asked, “Because I’ll have you know I would be incredible.” 

“Oh no, you’d be great. You wouldn’t even need to pick up a sword you’d just glare at people and they’d surrender.” Carrie glared at him as he continued, “I was actually talking about myself. I can’t even lift a sack of potatoes, let alone a heavy, metal shield,” he gestured wildly, as if imagining a shield right in front of him. 

“Well at least I don’t have to worry about you going off to war, I don’t think I’d be able to cope.” 

“Yeah, you’d miss me so much,” Nick grinned at Carrie.

“I’d miss being able to get cheap food because of your people skills,” Carrie smiled back, “Kayla and I can’t bargain to save our lives.” 

“Uh huh, sure, that would be the only reason,” he nodded and Carrie laughed. Nick lifted the bag strap higher up on his shoulder and started off down the path that led to the forest. 

“Let’s go. Just because we aren’t knights doesn’t mean we can’t still have an adventure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter, the one we’ve been waiting for will be introduced, Miss Julie Molina herself


	3. it’s not what you lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Some people don’t understand the cost of war.”

Princess Julie Molina sat around an elegant table, wearing a violet dress adorned with gold accents. Using one hand, she absentmindedly fiddled with a silver bracelet on her other wrist, eyes darting back and forth across the room as her father and his advisers debated their options as she did. 

“The threat from King Covington in the south is not something we can ignore any longer,” the general of their army addressed the room. 

“Now, hold on,” Ray Molina held out his hands in a placating gesture from where he stood by his throne. “We haven’t been sent any actual threats, and I don’t believe this is something we can solve with violence. I don’t want to cause bloodshed unless we have no other choice.” 

“He’s moving troops to the border shared with our land, more than we’ve ever seen in the past, and they are armed,” he crossed his arms, “That’s a threat if I’ve ever seen one.” 

“Or he’s just strengthening defences,” Ray pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, “The point is, as king, it is my responsibility to protect my people,” at this someone muttered, ‘a concept Covington doesn’t seem to understand’. Ray ignored them and continued, “I will not send soldiers into a war that could be avoided. Especially as his forces largely outnumber our own.” 

Ray turned to his mage and most trusted adviser for help, “Victoria, what do you think about this situation.” 

From where she sat next to Julie, Victoria adjusted her necklace for a moment before calmly speaking, “Caleb is a king and a magic user. Something that has never happened before, nor should happen again. I don’t know how that happened, but it is dangerous for a man to have such power. However, while he could be a threat in the future, he is not a threat now. We shouldn’t take action when it would put us at great risk.” 

Ray nodded at her appreciatively and called the meeting to a close. His council filed out, the General muttering in dissatisfaction. Only Julie stayed sat down, watching her father pacing up and down with worry. 

“You’ve done all you can Dad, you’re a good king,” she reassured him, getting up and walking over. 

“I know, I just,” he sighed, “I wish I could do something to help the people in his kingdom, you know? I don’t think they realise how terrible he is. If they revolted we could provide support, but as of now we can’t do anything without starting a war.” 

“Sometimes I think people wish he would do something so we can attack him,” Julie murmured, pointedly looking at the General’s seat. Ray chuckled softly.

“I also think some people don’t understand the cost of war,” his face was solemn and thoughtful, and he moved over to look through the arching windows of the courtroom. Julie stayed a few steps behind. After a few moments her father turned around and lowered himself slightly so he was on eye-level with Julie and smiled. 

“Why don’t you get Carlos and go out onto the grounds today? It’s a lovely day, you two should make the most of it.” 

Julie grinned and she and her father locked their pinky fingers, a habit neither one had wanted to grow out of, holding it for a beat before Julie exited the room as fast as was possible in her dress. 

The Molinas’ castle was old, comforting and always seemed to have the atmosphere of the morning before a party. Julie loved that about her home, although sometimes the familiarity made her sad. Her mother had always strived to make the rooms alive and colourful, the hallways covered in tapestries depicting old folktales, heroes of old and great beasts of legend. The light grey stone of the castle walls was just a canvas for the works that her mother had collected from local and travelling artists alike, and Julie, Carlos and their mother would roam the halls re-enacting the stories shown, or creating their own for those without. In the weeks after her mother died, it had been painful when those memories passed through her head. The explosions of colour on the walls made her head hurt. Everything reminded Julie of her. But as time passed, she began to feel thankful for that fact. She knew she wouldn’t forget her mother, and that she lived through Julie whenever she read Carlos tales of dragons in the east, or whenever she traced melodies on a harpsichord, and over the years the loss had become easier to accept. It still hurt, but as a dull ache rather than a sharp twist. 

She shook her head and pushed the swirling mass of thoughts to the back of her mind as she approached Carlos’ door. She rapped five times on the wooden door, in the rhythm of an unknown song. 

“Coming!” 

Julie waited, a faint smile on her face, as she heard a muffled crash from behind the wood. A few seconds later, Carlos opened his door, his sleeves rolled up and his hands covered in what looked like ash. 

“What were you doing?” Julie asked slowly, craning her neck to try and look inside his room. Carlos swiftly closed the door, stepping out of his room. 

“Uhh. I was trying to build a castle out of the logs in my fireplace…” he kept his eyes trained down on the floor, then sharply looked up, eyes wide. “Please don’t tell anyone!” 

“Don’t worry, you’re secret’s safe with me,” Julie ruffled her brother’s hair as he protested, desperately trying to push it back into place when she stopped. 

“Dad thinks we should go out into the gardens today,” she asked him, phrasing the statement as a question. 

“Oh sure! I can bring my kite!” Carlos disappeared back into his room, emerging thirty seconds later holding a flimsy paper kite. 

“You really think that’ll fly?” 

“Only one way to find out!” 

Carlos raced down the corridor, his lack-of-a-dress handing him a huge advantage against Julie. 

“Hey! Come back here!” Julie chased after him, being careful not to trip herself up. She met Carlos at the castle entrance where he was leaning against an ivy covered pillar, shaking his head. 

“Seems I won again,” he smiled. Julie smiled back, moving slowly towards him. 

“Seems you did.” 

When she got close enough, she snatched the kite from his grasp, holding it high above her head.

“Hey! Give that back!” Carlos jumped up and down, trying to reach it as Julie laughed, waving it higher before bringing it down into his reach.

“Alright, where were you thinking of trying to get this thing up in the air?” 

After many attempts to get the kite to pick up in the wind, Carlos and Julie found a huge willow tree and pushed through its drooping branches, sitting in the shade created under its dome. They say in silence for a few minutes, a soft breeze rustling through the leaves. 

“So you were in Dad’s meeting today?” Carlos asked, digging into the earth with a stick he’d found. 

“Yep,” Julie responded, “Nothing’s going to happen, Dad doesn’t want to risk lives.” 

“If I were king, I would get a dragon and burn that evil king to the ground,” he threw up a handful of grass, making explosion noises.

“And that is exactly why you are not king. Besides, where would you get a dragon?” 

Carlos thought about it for a moment. 

“Oh yeah…” he picked up the stick and started drawing lines, “Well, then I would have the knights surround the kingdom and attack on all sides! No escape!”

“You know the people living in the kingdom aren’t evil, right? They’re just stuck there.”

“Is that what your friend told you?” Carlos looked up at Julie. 

Julie’s face fell. The royal family of the Southern Kingdom was a complicated matter. King Caleb had never taken a partner, and the rumours were he’d stolen two orphans so that there was an heir to the throne should anything happen. Prince William was kept under tight control, supposedly being trained what to do should the land be given to him. He wasn’t allowed to leave the kingdom, for alleged ‘safety precautions’, but Princess Flynn had always been permitted to go to the events where the kingdoms came together for celebrations. Not a lot of kids Julie’s age were on the royal scene, so she and Flynn had always been close. Last year Flynn hadn’t shown at any of the gatherings, and Julie knew she wouldn’t leave her to deal with the pretentious nobles by herself. But like her Dad said, unless there was an actual threat of war, they couldn’t do anything to help, despite her worries for her friend. 

“Yeah. Yeah that’s what she told me,” Julie forced a smile as she answered Carlos, then stood up, dusting herself off. She offered a hand to Carlos, and pulled him up when he took it. 

“We should get back before dinner,” she moved the willow branches out of the way with one hand, holding them back as Carlos hurried through the gap. She followed him, leaving the branches to sway and she let them go behind her. 

“I hope they have turkey,” Carlos said wistfully, as he led the way back to the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may seem like I’m going off track every chapter, but I promise, it will come together soon. As always, thank you for reading!


	4. what doesn’t kill you makes you feel alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is why I don’t do adventures.”

“What part of my ‘I don’t want to go on adventures’ speech went over your head?” Carrie grumbled as she nearly tripped over a tree root. The path they’d taken led deep into the woods. Carrie had ventured into the woods many times before, with Nick and Kayla, but often by herself, and the forest was so big that every time she went in, she seemed to find a different area. From where he was weaving in and out of the trees a few steps ahead of Carrie, Nick shrugged.

“I heard you, but what are friends for, if not for dragging you out into the muddy woods?” He smiled sweetly at Carrie, who scowled at him. 

“I’ll put up with it just this once, because I know friends are also for cooking a hot meal as an apology once we get back from the muddy woods,” Carrie said, closing her eyes and lifting her head haughtily. 

Nick laughed, “Oh, I guarantee when we return from our epic quest I’ll boil the best potatoes you’ve ever had,” he sauntered over to Carrie’s side, slipped his arm around her own and pulled her forward, “But for that to happen, we need to pick up speed and get somewhere to eat this food before it gets dark.” 

Carrie protested uncooperatively until it faded into laughter, and she and Nick trudged forward. 

After a few moments of laughter, Nick started on a new conversation topic. 

“So you’d never be a knight? Like, not even if it would get you cute girls?”

Carrie rolled her eyes, they were back on the knight topic. 

“I can get cute girls on my own, thank you very much,” she and Nick had a habit of being the other’s wingman, usually for the worse. “Besides, when has anyone actually needed to save a princess? ‘Damsel in distress?’ That has never happened ever.” 

“Okay okay, I believe you,” he thought for a moment, “But I bet the princess is cute. You’d probably only get to see her as a knight.”

The mystery of the prince and princess was a popular gossip topic in the village. Allegedly needing to spend all their time preparing to take the throne, no one had ever seen the royal family outside of the King and his son, the elder of the two by a year or so, opening various ceremonies. 

“I’m not dedicating my whole life to seeing a princess who may or may not be cute,” Carrie scoffed, “Besides, that means putting yourself on the King’s radar and that’s something no one needs.” 

“That’s a fair point actually. He might try and get you to ride in his carriage pulled by demons.”

“I know you’re trying to make a joke but that wouldn’t surprise me.” 

“Trying?” Nick asked, shaking his head, “I don't know what you mean. I’m super funny.” 

“And I’m sure your mom genuinely means it when she tells you that,” Carrie remarked. Nick reached around and pulled down a low-hanging tree branch, letting it snap up in her face just before Carrie walked into it. She shrieked, leaping back and nearly falling onto the forest floor. 

“Nick!” 

“No no no, you can’t get me back, I’m holding our food!” he clamped a protective hand around the flap of his bag, striding ahead as Carrie chased after. 

They kept on the same path for close to half an hour, trekking under the tree boughs. Overhead, patterned leaves cast dappled rays of sunlight onto the floor, and the woods echoed with birdsong. Eventually they came to a clearing, the thick mud thinning out. An almost perfect circle of earth, cracked, dry and covered in a layer of thin grass. A wall of tree and stone rose up towards the back of the grove, creating an arch of shade beneath. 

“Well this seems as good a place as any to stop,” Nick said, shrugging the bag off of his shoulder and casting it onto the floor. It landed with a soft thud, and Nick sat on the floor next to it, his legs stretched out. He busied himself with unpacking the meal, calling out to Carrie, “Hey, you get first pick. It’ll make up for the branch.” 

Carrie only half heard him. Her attention had been turned to a wide opening in the rock, covered by a draping sheet of ivy. She drew back a section of the vines with her hand, coughing as a cloud of dust was dislodged. Squinting, she tried to see down the tunnel. 

“Hey, what’s this?” 

Carrie yelped as a voice sounded in her ear, Nick suddenly at her side. He laughed, then gasped when the echoes of his laughter bounced back from the cave. 

“How deep do you think it is?” Nick took a step forward before Carrie pulled him back. 

“I don’t know, and I don’t really care,” she made to walk back to the clearing but stopped when she realised Nick wasn’t following. 

“Well I care,” Nick said, “And I bought you food.”

“You also hit me with a branch,” Carrie reminded him. 

“It didn’t actually hit you!” Nick turned to face Carrie, “We’ll just go in and see. If it gets to five minutes and we haven’t found anything, we’ll go back, okay?”

Carrie tried to stare him down, but she knew she’d end up giving in eventually. It was Nick, and though she teased him constantly, he was the best friend she had. And he’d bought her food. With a deep sigh, she shouldered her way through the ivy wall.

“Come on, then.” 

Nick gave a little fist pump in the air, then hurried after Carrie. 

They walked down the tunnel in pure darkness, the drumming of their footsteps matched the steadily increasing beat of Carrie’s heart. She wasn’t scared, or wouldn’t admit to herself she was scared, but it was chilling inside the tunnel. Carrie didn’t know how long they’d been walking, but the effort of controlling her breathing started to become too much. She blindly stuck out a hand, sharply catching Nick on his chest. 

“I think we should go back now,” she forced out, hating how shaky her voice sounded. She hadn’t finished the sentence before a rhythmic dripping sound started from somewhere further down the cave. 

“Can you hold on for another minute?” Nick looked at Carrie with a concerned expression, relaxing when she nodded slightly. Carrie watched Nick take the lead, hesitating slightly before going after him. The narrow tunnel suddenly stretched into a huge cavern, and Nick made an undetermined noise of awe. Carrie realised she could now make out the finer features of Nick’s face, and started looking around for the source of the glow before Nick called her over to look at something on the wall. 

“These look like…” 

“Words!” Nick nodded, cutting Carrie off, “Which means someone was down here.”

“Yeah, a hell of a long time ago,” Carrie murmured, running her hands over the moss that had started sprouting in the carved notches, “What do you think it says?” 

“Ancient cave-person lunch recipes?” 

“Hey, maybe you can write some down, since the only thing you can make is potatoes!”

“Ha ha, very funny, you love my potatoes,” Nick pouted, before turning back to the words, muttering some of them under his breath. 

Carrie opened her mouth, preparing a retort, when she felt a tremor underneath her feet. She knew Nick must’ve felt it too, as he jumped away from the wall, looking around. The rumbling stopped for a moment, giving Carrie pause and a chance to take a breath, before coming back with double the force. 

“Did you do something?”

“No!”

“So what’s happening?!”

“Don’t ask me!” 

In the centre of the cavern, three balls of light had appeared, floating in the air, flickering in and out of existence. Faintly at first, then deafening, a yell rang out around the stone, and the light started to take the shape of three boys. Carrie held a hand over her mouth, as Nick ran to her side. With a crack, the light solidified into three people, who dropped to the floor with three groans, then scrambled up, steadying themselves. The one with blond hair looked at Carrie, his eyes wild and confused. 

“Who are you?” 

There was no time for a response. Carrie covered her head with her arms as a loud road shook the air. 

“I will not be cheated out of what’s mine for a second time!”

Then the cave began to crash down. 

“Run!” The boy in the middle yelled at Carrie and Nick, urgently pushing them towards the tunnel entrance. At the front of the group, Carrie ran as fast as she could, faster than she thought she could go. Behind her, she heard frantic shouts, the sound of rock crashing down on rock, and raced up towards where she knew daylight would be. The light at the end of the tunnel drew near, and the second she saw grass she flung herself as far from the cave mouth as she could, calling out for Nick the second she hit ground. Nick landed a few feet away from her, staring at the rockfall in terror, as the archway collapsed on itself where they had stood moments earlier. Carrie heard Nick call her name, and crawled over to meet him. She wrapped her arms around him, and they kneeled on the ground, eyes closed and hugging, before Carrie became aware of the three boys who were now huddled together, whispering and animatedly motioning. She wanted to ask who they were, what they were doing, why she’d just nearly been entombed by a disembodied voice, but she couldn’t summon the energy. 

“This is why I don’t do adventures,” she mumbled, closing her eyes. Nick laughed weakly. 

After a few minutes, the boys in turn realised that they weren’t alone, and all turned around in unison to look at Carrie and Nick. Nick gave them a friendly grin, which the one with dark hair returned, and Carrie supplied a bored wave. The brunette pulled the other two back into the huddle, finalising something, before they all turned around, clearing their throats. 

“Are you our rescue party?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys are back and very confused! There’ll be some sunset curve backstory next chapter, which should hopefully put some things into perspective!


	5. kept on climbing

_ Block. Counter. Step back. Feint left. Go right.  _

Luke drilled himself through the motions as he fought, though the blunt training sword in his hand moved more clumsily than his regular one. As he dashed at Reggie again and again with his sword, he shut out Alex’s shouts of encouragement from the side. Luke could feel his heartbeat pounding between his ears, keeping a natural beat of the battle. He’d landed a few good hits on Reggie so far, and while Reggie knew how to put up a good fight, he wouldn’t be able to stand up against Luke for much longer. Luke decided to test that theory. The whole fight he’d been darting around Reggie in a circle, forcing the taller boy to follow him, losing his energy. Now that Luke could see Reggie getting tired, the grip on his sword slacking, he rushed in for a final blow. He caught Reggie on the upper part of his arm, causing him to drop his sword. It clattered to the ground and Reggie let out an overly dramatic wail, sinking to his knees. 

Luke’s face, previously an expressionless look that Reggie liked to call his ‘focus face’, broke out into a huge grin. Snickering, he stuck out a hand to help Reggie up, and pulled him in for a hug when he was standing. Arm around Reggie’s shoulder, Luke turned to face Alex. 

“What’s that now? Five for me, none for you?” Luke called over to Alex. 

“You don’t have to win every fight, y’know!” Alex yelled back from where he was seated. 

“Yeah man, let the rest of us win some,” Reggie playfully smacked Luke’s shoulder, and Luke returned the favour by pulling Reggie into a friendly headlock. 

“Listen, if I wasn’t here you two would be the best knights around. I can’t let that go to your heads, I’m doing you two a favour!” Luke said, picking up Reggie’s sword from the floor and handing it to him. Luke and Reggie shook hands, then Luke squinted at Alex, covering his eyes from the sun.

“Your turn again, Alex?” 

Alex scrunched up his face and shook his head. “Nope. We already know who’d win.” 

“Come on, I’ve seen you in action, you’re a force to be reckoned with! I’m sure it’s just down to luck!” Luke said. 

“Still no. I’ll take my turn with Reggie this time, though,” Alex pointed at Reggie, who nodded eagerly, standing up again where he’d only just sat down. 

“All right, I’ll watch from the side, boys,” Luke jogged over to the benches set up at the side of the sandy clearing. 

He sat down and Alex and Reggie began their duel. As Luke watched them, he took note of how they moved. What made them such a good team was how different they were. Reggie thrust his sword towards Alex, who deflected it, and Reggie’s sword crashed to the right, taking his body with it. Alex used this moment to land blows on Reggie’s exposed side before he regained his position. Alex used defence as his offence, blocking his opponent’s strikes until he lured them into a position he was strongest in. When Reggie had steadied himself into a fighting stance again, Luke saw his gaze flicking over Alex, a calculating gleam in his eyes. Reggie’s game was well-placed hits. A strategic offence that Luke admired. Reggie knew where to strike so that it would hurt, disarm, daze, shock. Paired with Bobby’s brute strength and Luke’s speed, they were unstoppable on the battlefield. Luke had yet to see his team lose a fight, and he prepared everyday to make sure he wouldn’t. 

“Guys!” 

Bobby, the final member of their team appeared at the top of the trail leading to the arena. 

“Nice of you to stop by!” Luke said, a smile on his face, “I know you’re not a morning person but I wouldn’t expect you to skip practice.”

“Caleb wants to see us,” Bobby cut Luke off, “Says it’s urgent.” 

The other three boys looked at each other in surprise. Caleb was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, aside from the king himself. Luke knew he advised the king on final decisions, but he rarely gave out orders personally. Luke broke the stunned silence.

“Well, we uhh- we better get going then.” Luke spun his sword and sheathed it in his belt. He took the lead on the way out, Bobby at his side and Reggie and Alex staying behind. 

“Where did he say he wanted to meet us?” Alex asked Bobby, fidgeting with his hands. 

“Uhh somewhere in the castle? He didn’t tell me much, just caught me at the gates this morning,” Bobby shrugged. 

“Do you think it’s some kind of secret ceremony we’re going to have to do? He is magic, right?” Reggie gasped, “Are we gonna be wizards?” 

“No, we are not going to be wizards,” Alex said.

“How do you know?” Reggie retorted.

“Because that’s not how it works, magic is only taught to a special few. Isn’t it something you’re born with?”

“Since when are you a magic expert?”

“I’m not! I just know things! You can’t learn magic out of nowhere!”

“This is why no one’s tried to teach you magic…” Reggie muttered, and Alex sighed in exasperation. 

“Can we just- let’s just go and find out what he wants, okay?” Alex said. Luke could practically hear the defeated expression on his face, even without turning around to look. 

They picked up speed, swiftly approaching the looming castle. 

“Luke Patterson,” Luke said, when they were stopped by a guard at the gates. The guard asked him what he was here for, but was stopped when a cloaked man seemed to materialise out of the shadows. The man placed a hand on the guard’s shoulder and smiled at Luke. 

“They’re with me,” the man said.

“Of course, Sir Covington,” the guard stepped aside, allowing Luke and his friends to pass through. Luke’s eyes seemed drawn to the man’s elaborate dress-up. A deep purple cape flowed down his back, and a matching overcoat covered his white button-up shirt. 

“I’m so glad you could make it, boys,” Caleb spread out his arms in a greeting, “I have a task, and was informed that you were the best men for the job.” 

Luke cleared his throat, “Um, thank you sir.” 

He felt like he should say more, but couldn’t think of the right words. Caleb looked at him knowingly, and Luke shifted on his feet, suddenly uncomfortable. 

“Follow me. We’ll discuss the details in a more private location,” Caleb made off down one of the castle’s maze-like corridors, his cloak sweeping on the floor behind him. 

Luke had been in the castle a few times, mainly in the outer ring of hallways, but now Caleb led them deep inside through small, dimly lit chambers and unknown passageways. Finally, they reached a tiny, dingy room. Luke was the first to duck in after Caleb, Bobby staying at his side. He heard the scuffle of Alex and Reggie trying to push themselves in, until all four were squashed in between the walls, not wanting to be too close to Caleb. Luke watched as Caleb took out a book and started to flick through it. 

“You boys are aware that we’ve been experiencing a…rise in crime towards the eastern part of the kingdom, correct?” 

Luke nodded, the rest of them making noises of confirmation. Of course they’d heard the stories, but Luke tried not to think about it. People disappearing in the dead of night with no trace left behind was not a comforting story to be floating around. 

“Well what we’ve come to discover is that it’s not just a bad streak of crime,” Caleb informed them. 

“Wait,” Luke stopped him, “What d’you mean by that?” 

“If you’d let me finish, Lucas, I will tell you,” Caleb stared at Luke.

“Yeah, Lucas,” Bobby mumbled and Luke elbowed him in the ribs. Caleb ignored them and continued.

“I believe that a larger, darker magical force is at play. I also believe I know where it is,” Caleb said calmly, as the boys gasped in unison. 

“I told you… magic,” Reggie whispered. 

“Since you are, somehow, the kingdom’s best knights, I feel it the best course of action if we send you to try and defeat this fiend,” Caleb stuffed the book back in his cloak, “And to avoid causing alarm, we’re sending you off to the location tonight, under the cover of darkness. You are free to use the castle’s rooms, to get any equipment you may need,” Caleb ducked past them, heading out of the room, “Be back here immediately after the sun goes down.” 

  
  
  
  


At sunset, Luke and the others were led by Caleb out a back door, down a small hill and onto a beaten road in the woods. As they pushed through the border of trees, a small carriage was waiting for them, pulling by a singular horse. Their rider leaned against the side of the cart, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief when he recognised her. 

“Rose!” he called out as the boys approached her. 

“Well, if it isn’t the top four,” she smiled at the boys, “It seems I am forever fated to drive you around.”

“Well you’re the best at horses out of anyone I know,” Bobby said as he stroked the mane of the chestnut brown horse.

“Yeah I wouldn’t trust anyone else to go the speeds you do,” Alex agreed.

The newfound atmosphere of ease faltered when Caleb spoke up again. 

“Rose, you know the directions,” he narrowed his eyes and looked directly at her, “And my instructions.” 

Rose gave a small nod. Luke’s mind suddenly swirled with questions. There was something Caleb wasn’t telling them. 

“Boys,” Caleb tipped his head at the group and walked soundlessly away towards the castle. 

Rose stared after him for a second before clearing her throat.

“Right then, everyone in the carriage!”

The boys climbed up into the cart, Luke waiting until the other three had gotten up before getting in himself. Inside the carriage they sat on the two opposite benches, Luke and Alex facing Reggie and Bobby. Since Luke and Alex’s bench was at the front of the carriage, Luke found he could lean through a window above the bench and speak to Rose. 

“Sorry you always get stuck ferrying me and these guys around,” Luke said. 

Rose shrugged, “I don’t mind it that much. You guys are nice, and don’t scare the horses.” 

“Yeah but it must get kinda tiring, right?”

“I don’t have anything else to do,” Rose replied, “At least, not right now. In a few weeks I’m going to travel.”

“What?” 

Luke heard the boys say in unison from behind him.

“You’re leaving?” Bobby asked.

“Not far, I’m only going to the Northern Kingdom but, yes,” she sighed, “I just want to see somewhere else. See what it’s like.” Rose lifted her head to look at the stars. 

“You think the stars look different from other places?” Rose wondered out loud. Luke thought about it for a moment. 

“I think a journey might change your perspective,” he said slowly, “What’s there is the same, but it looks different. To you.” 

“When did you get so poetic!” Reggie asked. 

Luke frowned.

“Why is that a surprise? I can be poetic!” 

“Debatable,” Alex said, raising an eyebrow. 

“I can!”

Rose laughed as the boys descended into arguing. The horse picked up speed and soon they were outside a cave entrance. 

Luke jumped out of the carriage first, looking around the clearing. Rose stayed perched on the side of the carriage.

“Can you boys take it from here? The horse is getting jumpy.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine!” Reggie tried to smile, but Luke could tell something about this place was making him uncomfortable. 

As a group, they made their way towards the gaping mouth of the cave. 

“Heads up, boys.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luke couldn’t tell how long they’d been in that dark room. An hour or two? It couldn’t have been more than a day. And Bobby wasn’t with them. He wanted to say something to comfort Alex and Reggie, but he didn’t know what. At the beginning, all Luke had been able to hear were whispers, sometimes rising in volume, sometimes sinking. But now, as he sat back-to-back with Alex and Reggie. It had fallen quiet. Luke hugged his knees and rested his chin on his arms, closing his eyes. He suddenly felt a movement against his back, and turned around. Reggie had stood up. 

“Can you guys hear that?”

Luke looked around the dark room, unable to hear a thing. Alex said what Luke was thinking, although more panicked than Luke thought he would’ve sounded. 

“Reggie, sit down, we’ll just wait for someone to come to us.” 

“No it sounds like… I don’t recognise the words but…” Luke watched as Reggie looked at a fixed point, nothing there except the darkness surrounding them. Reggie hesitantly spoke a word Luke didn’t recognise, as if reading from a list, and then a brilliant flash of light blinded Luke. 

When his vision was clear again, Luke saw they were back in the cave. In front of him stood two people he didn’t recognise, looking like deer caught in a light. Luke registered his damaged hearing when Alex’s voice beside him sounded like it was trying to pass through water. Looking around the walls in a daze, Luke noticed a creeping break in the stone spreading out above them. 

“Run!” Luke barrelled into the two strangers, pushing them up the tunnel. 

When he emerged into the clearing, it was daylight outside. Definitely more than a couple hours. 

He pulled Alex and Reggie to the side, glancing around the clearing. 

“What is going on- who are those people?” Luke asked, a hint of desperation edging his voice. 

“I don’t know, ask Reggie, he’s the one who hears mysterious voices now apparently!” Alex stammered out, his eyes darting all around him. 

“You guys didn’t hear it?” Reggie said incredulously. 

“No!” Luke exclaimed. 

“It sounded like spell language… oh! Maybe she’s a witch,” Reggie peered behind Luke at the girl sitting on the floor. 

“No she- she is not a witch, okay?” Alex held out his hands. 

“I don’t know man, ‘witch’ is sounding pretty likely to me at this point,” Luke shook his head slowly, racing through ideas for an explanation. 

“If she was a witch why did she nearly get killed with the rest of us?”

“If she’s not a witch how did she get us out of that dark room!”

“We don’t know she did do that!”

“Well no one else is here!!” 

Luke cut in between their bickering, “So we’re going with ‘witch’,” he looked at Reggie for confirmation. 

“No, we are not going with witch!” Alex raised his voice before lowering his volume again.

“Okay look we just,” Alex took a deep breath, “We need to get back to the castle and tell Caleb that thing is too much.” Alex looked around the clearing, “Where’s Rose?”

“Rose isn’t here,” Luke said softly, “Maybe she saw what happened and sent some others after us?” 

“Ooh like a search party!” Reggie supplied. 

All three of them turned around, looking at the two mud-covered strangers on the ground. 

“It’s the best we’ve got,” Luke said, looking at Alex. 

“Okay, yeah,” Alex nodded. 

Luke made sure everyone was on the same page before approaching the mystery people. 

“Are you our rescue party?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter than usual! The boys! Rose! Caleb! All will be revealed in time. Thanks so much for reading!!


	6. we don’t get older

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “They don’t exactly look like the rescuing-type.”

The first thing that struck Reggie about the new boy was how he stood back. When Luke, Alex and the girl all started talking at the same time, he stood back. Reggie supposed he was standing back too, but that wasn’t because of his nature, he was just too busy staring at the boy. Oh, he was staring at the boy. Reggie caught himself and swiftly looked away, not wanting to seem rude. But he couldn’t help glancing at the way the sunlight caused his hair to take on a golden colour. He pulled himself back to the conversation at hand by listening back into the exchange between the others. 

“Why would you think we’re a rescue party?” 

“I don’t know!”

“Yeah, Luke, they don’t exactly look like the rescuing-type,” Alex said. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The girl demanded.

“You just said yourself that you weren’t a rescue party, it means you don’t look like one!” Alex tried to explain himself calmly, but Reggie could practically see his panic rising, so he stepped in to try and de-escalate. 

“How about we start with names? I’m Reggie!” Reggie held out his hand, a wide smile on his face. The girl stared at him as if he’d suggested they jump off a cliff, so he awkwardly moved his hand to pretend he’d needed to adjust his hair. 

“I’m Nick,” the golden boy said. Reggie smiled a little, and that smile grew when Nick reached out to shake his hand. From Reggie’s left, he heard Alex and Luke introduce themselves, then everyone turned to stare at the girl. 

She heaved a deep sigh.

“Carrie,” she said at last. 

“And now that that introduction is over,” Luke clapped his hands together, “We can get back to the castle.” 

“The castle?” Nick asked, looking confused, “I really don’t think you want to go there.”

“We have to, we were told to report back afterwards,” Alex said. 

“Report what?” 

Reggie saw the look of realisation dawn on each of their faces as they took in the fact they were standing right next to the cave entrance. The cave entrance that had just collapsed with an angry shadow monster inside. After a few moments of silence, Alex spoke.

“We’re gonna get away from that, right?”

A unified murmur of agreement came from everyone, and Reggie started to follow who he now knew as Nick into the forest. They walked for a few moments before a wave of tiredness came over Reggie, and he asked if they could stop. Alex and Luke must’ve been feeling the same thing, because Reggie saw the relief on their faces as they threw themselves onto the grassy floor. Nick went to open the bag he’d been carrying. Carrie made as if to stop him but when he gave her a hard stare she threw up her hands in resignation. From within the sack, he produced a couple of apples and tossed them to the boys, who received them gratefully. 

“So, if you aren’t here to get us, what are you doing?” Luke asked between mouthfuls. 

“Walking in the woods,” Nick said easily, “What were you guys doing?” 

Luke went to respond but Alex jumped in first.

“We shouldn’t really tell you. It’s not supposed to be public information,” Alex looked around the clearing, “Have either of you seen like, a horse and carriage around here? At any point in the past hour or so?” 

“Yeah but it was one of the king’s little messengers,” Carrie scoffed, “They went back though. If you’re looking for them you missed your chance.”

“Rose isn’t a messenger,” Luke said, lost in thought.

“Rose? I’m not sure what his name was, but I don’t think it was Rose,” Nick laughed uneasily, stopping when no one else looked amused. 

“His…no that can’t be right,” Reggie shook his head, “Rose wouldn’t have left us without doing something, right?” 

“Yeah but we thought Bobby wouldn’t leave us either,” Luke said bitterly. 

“Listen you’re dropping a lot of names, are dressed in armour from like, 30 years ago and just materialised out of thin air. Go find a wizard to talk to or something,” Carrie moved to leave the boys sitting down but stopped when Luke spoke. 

“Wh- what do you mean by that?”

“By what? That you materialised out of thin air, because I don’t know if you saw what I did, but-”

“No about our armour. It’s from- 30 years ago?”

“Well not exactly thirty, but yeah. They changed the design when the new king came into power,” Nick said. 

“It might just be me, but I don’t remember that happening,” Reggie said slowly. 

Carrie looked at them with a slightly dismayed expression, “Wait. Who do you…think the king is?” 

The boys looked at each other and smiled nervously. Nick seemed to realise something but stayed silent.

“It’s…King Feliz, right?” Luke said. He started the words confidently but Reggie could see his face fall as Carrie and Nick looked at each other in worry. 

“Right?”

“King Feliz died a while ago,” Nick said softly. 

“No, he- no,” Luke shot up from where he was sitting, “We saw him…we saw him yesterday, right, boys?” 

Alex stood up after Luke, “I’m starting to think that wasn’t yesterday.” 

Reggie followed behind Alex, getting up, “So we’ve been…what? In that dark room for years?” He asked. 

Nick shrugged helplessly. Reggie put what he hoped was a soothing arm around Alex. He wasn’t sure if he did it to help Alex or himself. 

“Did we at least get rid of that thing in the cave? It stopped taking people?” Luke asked desperately. 

“I haven’t heard of anyone getting taken recently, so yeah, probably,” Carrie said. Luke nodded slightly, that fact seemingly bringing him a small semblance of comfort. 

“So, wait, who’s in charge now? The king didn’t have a child, right?” Alex said from beside Reggie.

“No, he didn’t. There is a king but I don’t know or particularly care about his name, he never comes out of his lair… Nick?” Carrie turned to Nick, who had his brow furrowed as he thought. 

“Umm, Covington, I think,” Nick said. Luke whirled around to face Reggie and Alex, and Reggie knew they were all thinking the same thing. 

“Caleb? The adviser?” 

“But you can’t have magic and be king,” Alex said, confused. 

“Try telling that to him,” Carrie aimed a small kick at a rock. 

“We gotta get back to the palace,” Luke said, as Alex and Reggie stood up, Reggie followed after Luke as he stormed off. 

“Woah, you can’t just walk in there, he wouldn’t let you. Believe me, people have tried,” Nick warned the boys, hurrying to catch up. 

“Well, we have to do something!” Reggie exclaimed. 

“First we need to get you out of those god awful clothes,” Carrie said. 

“Is now really the time to be worried about clothes?” Nick murmured to Carrie, who brushed him off. 

“Unless you want people to be asking why they’re dressed up like King Feliz’s knights and/or get them arrested, yes,” Carrie crossed her arms, “If I take them to my house can you go and get some of your clothes for them?” 

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” 

As they approached a fork in the road, Nick ran off down the path to the left, and the boys trailed behind Carrie as she led them right. 

“Isn’t your mom gonna be kinda annoyed when you bring three strangers home?” Luke asked Carrie, breaking the silence. 

“Unless she comes from the grave to ground me, no, I don’t think so,” Carrie said shortly. Alex lightly hit Luke on the back of the head and glared at him. 

“I was just asking!” Luke whispered, “How was I supposed to know?” 

They spent the rest of the journey in silence, something Reggie usually would’ve been uncomfortable about. Today he was grateful for it, it gave him a chance to clear his head. Under any other circumstances, he’d be more concerned about whatever that magic thing they’d faced in the cave was. But right now, all he could think about was how much time had passed. That and Nick, who’d left them now. It was a slightly odd combination, his thoughts jumping from how everyone in his life had probably moved on or died, to how Nick's bright blue eyes crinkled at the edges slightly that time he smiled at Reggie. 

He hadn’t had a lot of family in his life, his parents sent him a letter saying they’d split while he was training to be a knight. So he’d poured all his energy into focusing on that. He’d wanted to be a knight as long as he could remember, if mainly for the cool horses he’d get to ride. But also because of how he could help people. Not in the way he might’ve helped his parents, but another way. He knew he’d helped a lot of people, and in a lot of ways, certain people had helped him. Alex, Luke and Bobby for sure. 

Reggie paused. Bobby. What had happened to him? He didn’t have time to reflect on those possibilities, because he was snapped out of his stream of thoughts by Alex nudging him. 

“We’re here,” Alex said, and Reggie found he was standing in front of a picturesque house, with a delicate thatched roof and stone brick walls. 

“I’m going to go in first and explain things, I don’t think my dad could handle,” Carrie looked the boys up and down, “Whatever this is all at once.” 

Reggie gave her a small thumbs up, “Good luck!” 

Carrie looked at him incredulously for a moment before opening the door and stepping into the house wordlessly. 

“Dude what was that?” Alex asked Reggie. 

“I’m trying to be nice! She seems cool,” Reggie said, smiling. 

“I think we have different definitions of cool,” Alex replied. 

The boys waited outside the house for a few minutes, muffled voices coming from inside the house. Eventually, the door swung open, and a man stepped out. The second he saw the boys, all four of them stood staring at each other, wearing matching expressions of shock. 

“Bobby?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is the end of jumping around the different times, from now on we’re having linear chronology. As always, thanks so much for reading!!


	7. one more try to feel alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve kind of been out of the loop for 25 years.”

When Nick returned with three outfits he thought would fit the boys, he didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t for Trevor to open the door on him looking like he’d seen a ghost. 

“Uh, should I come in?” Nick asked hesitantly. Trevor nodded, and Nick went inside. As soon as he entered, he saw Carrie sitting on the steps looking extremely worried. When she saw him, her head snapped up and she rose from her seat. 

“Did you get the clothes?”

“Yeah I did…is your dad, like, okay or?” Nick trailed off, looking back over his shoulder at Trevor, who was pacing nervously. 

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Carrie said, “When he saw the boys he seemed to know them? Or recognise them from somewhere? He told them to go upstairs and wait in his bedroom. Of course, he won’t explain anything to me,” she shrugged. 

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Nick supposed. Carrie murmured in agreement and Nick lifted his hands slightly, where he was still holding a pile of clothes. 

“Should I bring these up or do you want to?”

“I think you should, if only so you’re not left alone downstairs with my dad,” Carrie said. Nick sighed, relieved, and headed up the stairs. He didn’t know what had rattled Carrie’s dad so much, especially when he’d never seen Trevor be anything other than laidback, and after the day he’d been having he wasn’t sure if he could take finding out. As he reached the door to the main bedroom, Nick gently knocked and after a few moments he pushed the door open. Inside the room, the three boys were sprawled out on the one bed, their arms and legs crossed over each other. Not wanting to disturb them, Nick went to lay the clothes on a nearby chair, but froze when a voice spoke from the tangle of limbs. 

“Carrie?” 

“Uhh nope, just Nick,” Nick whispered. He looked over to the bed to see one of the boys rubbing his eyes and sitting up, careful not to disturb the others. Reggie, Nick remembered his name was. Nick felt a rush of heat in his face and desperately tried to ignore it. 

“Oh. Are those our clothes?” Reggie blinked, still half-asleep. 

“Yeah. I don’t know what kind of clothes you like, but I hope these are good enough,” Nick said. 

Reggie nodded slowly, “Thanks man, really. It sucks that you guys have to put up with us now,” Reggie laughed, “Though I guess Bobby was already putting up with us, he just got a break.” 

Nick paused for a moment. Bobby? He wasn’t going to ask while Reggie was clearly exhausted. Nick motioned at the chair he’d left the clothes on, “Well, fresh clothes are right there if you need them, so…” Nick trailed off, looking at the floor. He could feel Reggie’s smiling eyes on him from across the room. 

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

Nick nodded, hoped he didn’t seem as awkward as he felt, and went to leave the room. Downstairs, Carrie and Trevor had moved into a room at the back of the house, and Nick could hear their muffled voices as he approached. 

“Bobby?” 

“Listen, I’ll explain everything tomorrow,” Trevor’s voice sounded low as Nick stood in the entrance of the room. 

“Is Bobby you?” Carrie’s voice was shaky, filled with an emotion Nick couldn’t quite place. 

Trevor sighed, “Yes,” he said after a moment, “But there’s a reason-”

“So who’s Trevor?” Carrie cut him off, “Who’s my dad?”

“Me, you know that,” Trevor raised his hands, trying to stay calm, “If you wait I can explain everything when the boys come down tomorrow.” 

Carrie closed her eyes, then opened them again and gave her dad a hard stare. “Fine. You have tomorrow morning to tell me who you really are.” She seemed to suddenly realise Nick had been standing there, “What did you hear?” Carrie demanded. 

“Not- not much,” Nick assured her. He could tell she didn’t believe him. She brushed past him without a word. 

“Should I leave?” Nick asked Trevor. 

“If you want to. It’s going to be pretty messy in the morning,” Trevor said, “If you’re fine with staying, you can sleep in the spare room.” 

Nick stayed with the Wilsons often, so he knew the spare room Trevor was referring to. 

“I think I’ll stay, if that’s alright with you?”

Trevor nodded, and Nick retreated to the spare room. He didn’t know how many more life-altering events he could take. 

The next morning, Nick was the last to wake up. When he woke up at sunrise, he walked to the main room slowly and quietly, careful not to squeak the wooden floorboards and trying not to wake anyone up, only to find his efforts were in vain. Everyone else was already gathered around the table, the only sound the creaking of chairs. Trevor and Carrie looked like they’d barely slept the night before, which didn’t surprise Nick. He saw the boys changed into the clothes he’d brought them. He thought it was unfair that they looked better than he did in his own clothes, especially Reggie. What was going on with him? Nick had caught himself thinking about the knight far more often than he thought about the others. It was probably just because he’d been the first one to smile at Nick. Good first impressions lasted, right? As everyone turned to look at him, Nick held up his hand in greeting, then swiftly put it down as the others turned back to what they were doing. The three boys were filling themselves with what looked like the entirety of the food in the house. Nick moved over to Carrie, who was leaning on the wall furthest from her dad. 

“Has he said anything to you yet?” Nick whispered. 

“No,” Carrie responded shortly. Nick picked up that she didn’t want to talk, so leaned beside her in silence. 

It was only when the boys had finished eating that they started to ask questions. 

“So,” Luke started, “You just left us in that cave?” 

At the same time, Trevor tried to defend himself and Alex protested.

“Luke, that’s not fair.”

“What was I suppose to do?” 

“Something! Anything!” Luke exclaimed, “What, you just leave us there and don’t at least try? For 25 years?” 

“I’ve regretted it every day of my life,” Trevor said softly. 

“Yeah, well, that’s not enough,” Luke said, pushing his chair and standing up.

“Luke, wait, we have to at least hear what happened while we were gone,” Alex said. Nick watched Luke stand in place for a few moments, the boy visibly fuming. At last, he gave in and went to sit back down, refusing to look at Trevor. 

“I should’ve done something. You’re right,” Trevor turned to Carrie and Nick. “We were sent, all four of us, to try and defeat a monster in that cave. I think the guys succeeded, though I wasn’t much help.” Trevor then aimed his explanation at Luke, “But for the first few years after that night I was too scared. Scared for myself. Then when nothing happened, when the disappearances stopped, when Bobby was proclaimed dead along with the rest, I was scared by going back I would make things worse.” 

“So you changed your name?” 

“Yes. If I could go back, maybe I would’ve done things differently but becoming Trevor allowed me to have a daughter,” Trevor - or Bobby - looked over at Carrie, who remained silent, “I wouldn’t change that.” Carrie avoided looking at her father. 

“Wait, they thought we died?” Reggie asked, eyes wide. 

“Yes. And a few years later, the king died,” Trevor said. 

“Yeah, we know about that,” said Alex, “But how did Caleb become king? I thought that went against a couple rules?” 

“It did. Still does, but there’s not much to be done about it now,” Trevor sighed, “No one wants to rebel against a king that could set you on fire with a wave of his hand.” 

“Does he still have a mage then?” Alex asked.

“Wouldn’t take one. He believes he should be the only one with magic, that it’s his right as king.”

“He clearly doesn’t know much about magic then,” Nick said, “It needs to be taught to be used effectively, sure, but you’re either born with it or not. Caleb can’t change that.”

“There’s gotta be other magic users in the kingdom,” Reggie agreed. 

“The fact remains that Caleb technically hasn’t done anything wrong as king, besides hold magic,” Trevor said. 

“Because not providing for his people isn’t considered wrong,” Carrie said bitterly, breaking her silence. 

“Since his appointment he technically hasn’t broken any rules,” Nick shrugged. 

“I never liked that guy,” Reggie mused to himself. 

“At least he might recognise us though. He might let us become knights again,” Luke countered.

Trevor chuckled, “No, he won’t. The only way you’d get back to knights is entering the tournament.”

“Tournament? Don’t you just sign up?” Alex asked, confused. 

“Used to be that way. When people lost a passion for serving the king, they had to change their methods a bit. Anyone who wins the tournament gets a fair deal of money, and brings prestige to their family. The only catch is you have to be a knight,” Trevor explained. 

“Well, we could easily win that tournament!” Luke jumped up from his chair, “You don’t get known as the best knights in the kingdom for nothing. Then we can get back to how things were.” 

“Aren’t you more worried about warning people about the cave?” Alex looked up at Luke from where he sat. 

“If Bobby’s telling the truth then we did what we set out to do. It stopped taking people and- and we don’t have to deal with it again,” Luke spoke quickly. 

“So what, we just, sign up for this tournament and hope no one recognises us?”

“I didn’t recognise you and you blew up a cave in front of me, so I doubt anyone will look twice at you in the street,” Carrie looked them up and down. 

Reggie started nodding slowly, “And if Caleb does recognise us, we can just ask him to restore our positions.”

“Exactly!” 

Out of the three, only Alex looked unconvinced. 

“I don’t know… in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve kind of been out of the loop for 25 years. There’s gotta be some big changes and I don’t deal with change well,” Alex sighed, “And we- we don’t even know anything about anything anymore! Twenty years of history missed. What if someone asks us something that should be super obvious and we don’t know and then we get caught!” Alex’s thoughts rushed out in a flurry. Trevor thought about it for a moment. 

“Take Carrie.”

“No!” Carrie said immediately, “I’m not going to sign up to lift weights for four weeks to help them relive their glory days or something.” 

“I’m not saying you have to win the tournament and become a knight, just go with them for the first month and make sure they’re prepared enough to go out into the world. That’s all.” 

“I didn’t ask to be dragged into your shady past.”

“Well you have been. And if you don’t go with them they’ll probably just live here. They don’t have anywhere else to go.” 

This caused Carrie to freeze in place. Luke looked like he was about to protest against living with them, but thought better of it. Nick stayed where he was, too afraid to move and set off something. 

After a long, drawn out sigh, Carrie agreed.   
“Fine. I will go with them, but don’t expect me to put any effort into literally anything.” 

Reggie beamed and gave a small cheer, Alex looked the tiniest bit more comfortable, and Luke smiled at Carrie. 

“Thank you,” he said. Nick could tell he genuinely meant it, noticed the sudden change in Luke’s mannerisms now that he had a goal to work towards. 

“Knights again?” Reggie said. Luke threw an arm around his shoulders.

“Knights again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soon we’ll get into what I’ve been looking forward to: pointless knight shenanigans!!! I always feel like I’m repeating myself, but thank you so so much for reading! And all the comments mean a lot, I appreciate them!


	8. get up, get out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I wouldn’t trust anyone else to come dragon hunting with me.”

Julie didn’t know why she’d been woken up so early in the morning, and judging by the huddle of her father’s advisers whispering in the throne room as she entered, it wasn’t good. Her father looked up as she entered, and waved her over distractedly. As she approached, he turned to her. 

“Now, whatever anyone tries to say, this is your decision alone. Remember that,” he whispered to her. Julie was even more confused than before. 

“Dad, what’s going on?” Julie asked, but she was interrupted by a voice calling out from the gathered people. 

“It’s obviously a trap, we can’t allow her to go!”

“Allow her… what?” Julie looked at her father, confused.

“If we let her go, we might not get her back.”

“If we don’t let her go, it could be seen as an act of hostility!” 

Voices bounced back and forth across the room, raising in volume as the argument continued. 

Ray sighed, and pulled Julie aside, lowering his voice so they wouldn’t be overheard. 

“King Caleb from the Southern Kingdom has… invited you to stay with them for a month or two. Under the guise of repairing our cities’ relations.” 

“You think I shouldn’t go,” Julie said, picking up on her father’s uneasy tone. 

“I think it could be a ploy to avoid us attacking him while his little knighting ceremony takes place. We can’t do anything while you’re there, and it would be the perfect time as his army would be distracted getting new recruits.” Ray looked back at the restless crowd of people. 

Julie followed his gaze, thinking, “I should go, then.” Ray’s head snapped back round to look at Julie.

“What? Are you sure-  _ mija _ I just don’t want you to rush into this without thinking it through,” Ray said, “We can decline his offer if you want.”

“I’m sure. You said yourself, it’s to try and prevent us from attacking. I want to help stop any kind of fighting if I can, and if it’s by doing this then I’ll take that risk,” Julie assured her dad, “And if he does do anything to me, you guys will be totally justified in starting a war, his people might even support us.” 

_ And I can try and see Flynn again.  _

Julie didn’t say the last part out loud, but she knew this was the best way to make sure her friend was okay. She didn’t know what she’d find in the Southern Kingdom, but she knew Caleb was smarter than to hurt her by doing something like this. It wouldn’t - couldn’t - go well for him, especially as he’d promised ‘her complete and total safety’ in the letter he’d sent. He was by no means a man of his word, but he wasn’t an idiot. Julie wasn’t so naive as to think that he wasn’t planning something, she didn’t even know whether inviting princesses to stay at other kingdoms was a thing, but maybe she could use this to her advantage. 

“I want to go,” she said firmly. Her father looked slightly disappointed, but quickly replaced that look with a soft smile. 

“Okay. You’ll be leaving in two days,” Ray said. 

“I don’t think you want to be here when I break the news that our princess will be leaving for a while to all of these guys,” Ray winked at Julie, “I’ll call their attention, you slip out.”

Julie smiled, “Thanks, dad.”

Julie did what her dad told her, when he called the group back together to announce the news, she slipped out unnoticed around the commotion. The door shut behind her and she leaned against it, closing her eyes as she let out a deep breath. 

“You’re leaving?”

Julie’s eyes blinked opened and she looked around, eventually locating the source of the voice. She moved down next to Carlos, who was sat cross-legged next to the door. 

“Was someone listening in on private meetings again?” Julie returned his question with her own, but softened when she saw the sadness in her brother’s eyes. “Hey, it’ll only be for a month- two months maximum. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“But what if you’re not? Everyone’s always talking about how bad the Southern King is, what if he hurts you? What if you die or something and I wasn’t there.” Carlos looked away. Julie could tell he was trying not to let her see the tears forming in his eyes. 

“Woah, Carlos, I’m not gonna die,” Julie wrapped her brother into a hug. “And anyway, I wouldn’t dare leave you in line to be king. My ghost would come back and take the throne,” she added after a moment. 

“Hey!” Carlos protested in her arms, lightening a bit, “I wouldn’t need your ghost, I’d be great.” 

“Mhm, whatever you say Dragon King,” Julie teased. 

“Okay maybe that wasn’t my best idea but the name ‘Dragon King’ sounds super cool,” Carlos said. 

“Maybe you can find your own someday,” Julie said. 

“Maybe…” Carlos considered, “I’d need to travel somewhere really far though. Maybe for up to a year! I don’t know if a dragon is worth not having roast beef for a year.” 

Julie laughed, “Well don’t go hunting for dragons without me.” 

Carlos shifted on the floor so that his head was lying on Julie’s shoulder, “I wouldn’t trust anyone else with coming dragon hunting with me.” 

Julie knew, in Carlos terms, that was as good as an ‘I love you’. 

“Maybe we should get out of here before Dad and the others leave the room,” Julie realised after a moment. 

“Oh, good call.” 

The two of them got up from where they were sitting and hurried out of the hallway.

“So when are you leaving?”

“Dad said two days,” Julie replied, “It’s kinda short notice.” 

“Do you need help packing or…?” Carlos asked as they approached the corridor with their rooms. 

“Probably. Have you ever actually packed clothes before?” Julie pointed out.

“I don’t think that’s what’s important here,” Carlos dismissed, and Julie restrained a smile. 

“I’ll miss you, Carlos.”

“I know.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised pointless knight shenanigans but that was me getting ahead of myself, in the moment I forgot about the actual plotline. However, shenanigans are on the way!! Yeah!!!


	9. all got a second act inside of us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is where I leave you.”

Four days after they’d decided to enter the knight tournament, a decision Alex still wasn’t completely set on, the three boys plus Carrie and Nick climbed into a small wagon. Bobby - or Trevor, Alex was still weird about all that - had agreed to drive them to the main city for the start of the tournament. Alex had found thick cloaks for himself, Luke and Reggie, to cover their heads with as best as they could. Carrie didn’t think anyone would recognise them, but Alex thought it was better safe than sorry. In the days since they’d come back, Carrie and Nick had tried to catch them up on basic world history as best as they could. Alex realised they’d missed a lot more than he’d originally thought, and four days wasn’t nearly enough to learn 25 years of facts. A whole lot had changed, and Alex didn’t really deal with change well. 

“Reggie, stop using your cloak to act like a vampire,” Alex said suddenly, as a burst of laughter brought his attention back to the cart. Luke, Reggie and Nick were all sitting on one of the benches, Alex and Carrie taking the one slightly smaller but further back. 

“Chill out Alex, we’re just having fun,” Reggie said. 

“I know, I’m just…I’m kind of on edge today,” Alex shifted in his seat. 

“Yeah man, we’ve noticed,” Luke laughed. 

“It’s all going to be fine,” Nick assured them, “People don’t actually care who’s going to this thing, and the Prince is supposed to be opening today, so it’ll be a huge crowd. You’ll be unnoticeable.”

This did reassure Alex to some degree. Under any other circumstance he would hate the idea of large crowds and a busy city, but if it meant drawing attention away from him, maybe he could put up with it for an afternoon. 

“Besides, you’ll have Carrie with you,” Nick continued. 

“About that, I don’t see you coming along to help babysit,” Carrie glared at Nick, who put up his hands defensively.

“I’ve always told you, I’d be awful. I would literally get kicked out of the program. They wouldn’t want me.”

“Sure, that’s why you’re not going,” Carrie said, unconvinced. 

“At least I’m staying in the city while it’s going on,” Nick said, “I’ll be like, your moral support!” 

“Wait, you’re staying in the city?” Reggie asked, shocked. 

“Yeah! My aunts live here, I’m going to stay with them,” Nick explained, “And I wouldn’t miss watching my favourite knights completely crush the competition!”

“I’m…one of your favourite knights?” Reggie said quietly. Alex rolled his eyes, he knew where this was going. 

“Okay but staying in the city and going shopping with your kinda rich aunt all day does not equate being entered into a high intensity training program,” Carrie complained. 

“I don’t know. It’ll be a hard month, have you ever met my aunts?” Nick said seriously. Reggie and Luke exchanged a worried look for a second, before Carrie cut in and Nick started laughing. 

“Yes! They’re so nice!” 

Nick continued to laugh even harder when Carrie huffed and turned to the side, staring out of the side of the wagon with a look like thunder. 

“Well, I’m just excited to see the city again,” Luke said after a while, “You said it hadn’t changed much, right?” He asked Nick.

“From what I’ve been told, no,” Nick agreed. 

“Well at least that’s one thing we still know about,” Alex said. 

“Yeah, and I’m sure that food store is still there!” Reggie exclaimed, “Y’know, the one with the nice bread!”

“Oh, god, that bread was so good, man,” Luke nodded. 

Nick grinned at Reggie, “I’ll have to try some of that bread out.”

“I’ll take you someday,” Reggie said to Nick, smiling. He seemed to realise the implications of what he’d just said, and Alex groaned inwardly as he tried to cover it up. 

“In fact, I’ll take…I’ll take everyone there! Group trip to the bakery, right guys? Haha…” 

“Dude…” Luke said, shaking his head slightly. Alex figured Luke had started to regret his decision to sit in between Reggie and Nick. From beside Alex, Carrie rolled her eyes. 

Alex whispered to her, “Bets on how long it’ll take them to confess.”

“You’re assuming they’ve actually realised by now,” she returned, a half smile on her face. 

A kind of friendly conversation! Alex was making progress. He smiled to himself and rejoined the conversation with the rest of the group, where Luke was busy trying to convince Nick that baking apples into things was much better than blackberries. 

“All I’m saying is it tastes a lot nicer!”

“I’ll have to disagree with you on that. You’ve had blackberry crumble, right? And you still think apple is better?” Nick asked him. 

“Reggie, you’ll back me up on this, right? It’s apple?”

“Blackberries are kinda nice,” Reggie shrugged. 

“Liar! You hate blackberries!” Luke accused. 

“Not anymore!” Reggie protested, and he and Luke started trying to trap the other in a headlock, a feat that proved to be quite difficult when they were squashed into a relatively small wagon with three other people. 

It took them nearly the rest of the day to reach their destination, and by the time they could see the city on the horizon, the sun had started to set. 

When they reached the city gates, they passed through a loose security examination and pulled up against the city walls. Trevor climbed out of his seat on the front of the cart first, moving round the back to help the others out. They each grabbed their bags, containing everything they could fit, and hopped out of the wagon. 

“I guess this is where I leave you,” Trevor said, looking around at the bustling atmosphere of the city. 

“Thanks for driving us here,” Luke said begrudgingly. Alex and Reggie offered their thanks a little more sincerely. Carrie got out of her seat wordlessly, and moved to stand by Nick. 

“Stay safe,” Trevor sighed, turning to get back up on his seat. Before he could, Carrie rushed forward and hugged him. After a few moments of shock, Trevor returned it, wrapping his arms around her. She quickly withdrew, still not looking at her dad.

“I’m still mad at you,” she muttered. 

“I know. I’d be more worried about you if you weren’t,” Trevor lifted himself onto the wagon. “Find an inn to stay the night. In the morning, head to the opening ceremony, it’ll be obvious which one it is. I’ll be back in a month.” 

Alex watched as the horse trotted away and out of the city gates. He stood with the others in silence for a minute or two before Carrie spoke. 

“I guess we should find an inn to stay in?” Carrie said, halfway between a question and a statement. 

“Oh, I know this really great place, it should be just a few minutes from here,” Reggie said excitedly. It wasn’t like they had any other plans. Alex glanced at the others. They all seemed to be in agreement, so they followed Reggie, who led them through the winding streets. Alex didn’t even mind that they got lost a few times, okay maybe a bit more than a few times. He spent the trip a few steps behind Reggie, Luke and Nick, eventually working his way up to talking to Carrie without her snapping. They talked about their friends, favourite foods, how pretty the sky looked. Just pointless stuff. It felt good. Alex didn’t think he’d felt this free in a long while. Although a few things had changed, the familiarity of the city came rushing back to him, and as he looked at his friends, old and new, he thought that there were worse people to get lost with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re getting closer to the tournament! And no, I didn’t lie in the tags, Willie and Flynn will appear very shortly, never fear. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	10. on the other side we live like kings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let the contest commence!”

“Now, I want you to be in perfect condition for this, William.” 

Willie watched as Caleb sifted through a pile of shirts. 

“I think I know what I want to wear,” Willie said hesitantly.

“No. You don’t.”

Willie sighed and sat down on an armchair. As he stared out of the window he could see the crowds gathering around the arena. 

“I just gotta go out there and read off some cards, right? I really don’t think it’s a big deal,” he trailed off as Caleb fixed him with a hard stare. 

“You don’t think it’s a big deal?” Caleb asked, then took a breath “That shows how little you care about my reputation.” 

“I didn’t mean,” started Willie. “Of course I care, I just don’t think I need to wear,” he gestured at the stack of over-the-top clothes, “Any of that.”

“That,” Caleb said, “Is a pile of traditional clothes. It shows you are respectable.” He looked Willie up and down. 

“Shouldn’t my respectability come more from how I act? You said a true king’s worth is shown through his actions.”

“Yes, well, public appearances are not worth,” Caleb said, clipped and agitated. 

“Shouldn’t I try and learn a bit more about, like, governing before I go out and do all this?” 

Caleb fell silent. 

“William I think you should retreat to your room for a couple of hours until the ceremony. I’ll have Dante come and bring you your clothes and reading notes.”

Willie opened his mouth to argue, but something in Caleb’s eyes made him stop. It would be no use in the end, just like always. 

“Fine.”

Willie pushed the door open and ducked out of the room, leaving Caleb to snap some orders at the others in the room. He hurried to his room anxious to avoid any conversation, however well-intentioned. Once he closed his door, he breathed a sigh of relief and sank to the floor, leaning against the wood. His thoughts raced through standing on podiums and reciting speeches, dressed in Caleb’s silks and thoroughly hating every moment. He’d always been forced into the spotlight, not that anyone cared about him. Not him, his title. His prestige. His wealth. Sometimes he wanted to just up and leave. Pack his stuff and get out. But he knew Caleb wouldn’t let him leave, or let him get too far. Besides, he couldn’t do that to Flynn. While not related by blood, as much as Caleb denied the rumours, they were as close as brother and sister, and though he knew Flynn would take to the whole leadership role much easier than he did, he didn’t want her to face that sort of pressure. Still, it didn’t stop him from sneaking to the library after dark, scouring the shelves for maps and atlases, imagining what it would look like if he traveled to the four corners of the world and back. A sharp knock on the door brought him back to reality. He shot up from where he’d been sitting and turned the handle. 

“Flynn,” he greeted her with a smile. She smiled back, but her expression turned into one of concern when she seemed to sense a sadness behind Willie’s eyes. Flynn had a way with reading people like that. 

“Old man dragging you down?” Flynn asked, closing the door behind her as she stepped into the room. 

Willie flopped onto his bed, “You could say that.” 

“Yeah, I saw him getting out the classic puff-shirts this morning.”

“I’m supposed to open the knighting ceremony tomorrow.”

“What? I thought Caleb usually did that?” Flynn exclaimed. 

“He does. He wants me to get some experience, I think?” 

“Bullshit. It’s because people are losing interest, you’re new and exciting,” Flynn shrugged. “That was a compliment by the way,” she added. 

“Uhhh thanks?” Willie said.

“And I assume he’s got everything you need to say written down somewhere?”

“Yup,” said Willie. 

“See!” Flynn said in satisfaction, “If it was about ‘experience’ he’d let you do it himself. He doesn’t plan on leaving us in charge of anything anytime soon.”

“I could try and talk to him about letting me write my own speech,” Willie suggested. Flynn looked unconvinced. 

“You could try, that’s for sure.” 

They sat in silence for a few moments before Willie spoke. 

“You’re kinda hard on him, y’know?” 

“Name one good thing he’s ever done.”

“He took us in,” said Willie. “He can’t be all bad.”

“We don’t know what he took us from,” Flynn countered. “He might’ve taken us from the best families ever!”

“Yeah, maybe,” Willie laughed slightly, “I doubt it, though.” 

“Just because you’re the prince doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to complain about him when he screws you over, is all I’m saying,” Flynn sat down next to him on the bed. “He shouldn’t be able to walk all over you like this. You don’t deserve it.” 

“Thanks. I’ll consider it.”

A knock on the door. 

“I have a speech for Prince William.”

“I’ll get it,” Willie muttered to Flynn, then walked over to the door. When he saw the piece of paper clutched in the footman’s hand, he went to grab it but it was pulled away. 

“The King wants you to practice it with him.”

Willie glanced back at Flynn apologetically. 

“It’s okay, go,” she mouthed at him. He nodded and headed out of the room. 

“Attention everyone, Prince William will now open the tournament,” a voice boomed across the arena, packed with citizens from all around the kingdom. 

Willie felt Caleb’s hand firmly on his shoulder. A warning. He gulped and headed out onto the podium, keeping his head up and trying to force some confidence into his stride. 

“Thank you, everyone. I know it means a lot to both my father and I that you’ve come today.” 

A cheer went up from the crowd as Willie continued. 

“May those signed up for the tournament make their way to the marked area.”

Around forty kids, roughly between the ages of fifteen and eighteen from what Willie could tell, wormed through the crowd to stand in a rectangle below his podium, marked out by a smattering of dark purple flags. Willie’s eyes scanned the lineup. Usually during the opening ceremony, he would stand in Caleb’s private box - used by Caleb for viewing plays and fights, used by Willie and Flynn to watch Caleb in the yearly opening ceremonies - and had never gotten a close look at the soon-to-be knights. Well, some of them were soon to be. Only those twelve who proved most capable. One in particular caught Willie’s eye. He wasn’t even sure how that was possible from up that high, but he found himself stumbling on words as his eyes kept drifting back to a boy with neatly parted, perfectly blond hair. He managed to keep himself on track though, explaining the details of the tournament, where the participants would stay, what the basic training routine would involve, and finally finishing the speech with what he hoped was a suitably dramatic flourish. 

“Let the contest commence!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Willie and Flynn are here!!! I just think they should be friends. Hope you enjoyed reading!


	11. our best days are yet unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “When we would stay in tents with Bobby, we used to talk way into the night.”

“Tents house up to four people, wherever you choose tonight will be your home for the month.”

They’d been led around the back of the castle, through a rather scary front gate, with jagged spikes and your typical evil monarch decorations, to what Carrie assumed used to be the gardens. Now destroyed by either fire or brute force, it was a flattened field and tents had been pitched in what seemed to be random places. Carrie had a suspicion they weren’t random, though. Positioned far away enough that no one could whisper through the walls to each other, and no one would be willing to risk walking through the muddy field at night to visit each other. It created a sense of disconnect. Ideal for a kingdom whose monarchy thrived under disorganisation among the people. 

“There’s a river down that path, through the forest,” the woman they’d been following pointed to a break in the line of trees. “Use it for gathering water - though you will need to properly prep that yourselves - and washing clothes. We will wake you for breakfast in the morning.” 

Carrie watched as the crowd dispersed, looking around at each other for who’d go in which tents. She began to make her way to the one closest to the river path.

“Wait they’re not gonna assign us rooms?” Luke asked, hurrying behind her. “We can go wherever?” 

“I guess. It’s not like they care enough,” she replied. 

“Why are we running off this way? This tent is like, the farthest from everything else. The mess tent, the castle, what I think is the training grounds,” Alex paused a moment, looking at a field littered with hay bales “Yeah actually I can’t tell what that’s supposed to be.”

The setting sun cast four shadows on the canvas of the tent as they approached it. Carrie pulled back the flap, “This tent is closest to the river. It’ll be easier whenever we need to get water, which will be basically every day.” 

“Wait, is this river the one you can see from the fence?” Reggie asked.

“What?” Luke looked at him.

“There’s a fence surrounding the castle grounds and me and Nick are going to try and meet there sometimes,” Reggie explained. 

“What?” Luke repeated.

Carrie cleared her throat, motioning at the tent and where she’d been holding up the flap and waiting for them. Reggie shrugged, ducking inside. “We planned it that night in the inn.”

“Huh?” 

“At sunset he’s going to go there every other day and wait ten minutes, and I’ll try and be there.”

“And who’s idea was this?” Carrie asked. 

“Nick’s. Well, it was my idea to meet up but his to use that system.” Reggie grinned. 

“Where were we when this happened?” Alex questioned. 

“You three fell asleep on the same armchair after singing with that travelling band!” Reggie accused. 

“Uhhhh- I don’t remember- that doesn’t…sound right.” 

The others looked at each other awkwardly as they made sounds of protest. Carrie definitely remembered doing that, and she knew Alex and Luke did too, but that didn’t mean she was about to admit it. 

“So, you like Nick then?” Carrie swiftly changed the subject. 

“Huh? I mean, of course I like him, he’s a great guy,” Reggie said, a bit too quickly. He spun on the spot so he was facing the tent wall, and busied himself with unpacking, but didn’t turn fast enough to stop Carrie from seeing the red flush that spread over his face. 

“You know what I mean,” Carrie muttered. Reggie pretended not to hear. They spent a few moments in silence, everyone arranging their belongings beside their beds. Well, ‘beds’ was overstating it. There were strips of cheap cloth laid out for them, four per tent. They only rose about two inches off the ground, complete with an extra, thin and worn blanket for putting over them. 

“How are we going to sleep in these things?” Alex wondered aloud, “They look so uncomfortable.”

“Just be glad it’s summertime, dude,” Luke reminded him. “Remember that one time we had to sleep in those mountains in late winter?”

“Oh and there was that snowstorm?” Reggie had turned back around. He moved down and sat cross-legged on his bed, “And Alex got snow down his shirt,” Reggie snickered while Alex glared at him. 

“I still hate you for that.”

“It wasn’t me, it was Luke!”

“Hey don’t pin this on me!”

The three boys continued arguing about the slights and details of their trip to the mountains, and Carrie sighed. She knew the boys had history together, and she’d only met them less than a week ago, but she felt jealous that they were so close. Then she felt guilty for feeling jealous. They’d been good to her, even when she hadn’t been good to them. And she couldn’t blame them for having been friends. It still hurt to know she’d always be on the outside of the group. She closed her eyes and lay back, using her bag, still full of her clothes, as a pillow. She listened to the boys’ bickering, as the tent slowly dimmed while night fell over them. 

She thought she’d been about to drift off to sleep when she felt a weight land on her stomach. 

“What the hell?” Carrie started, looking at the bag that had landed on her. It was Alex’s She looked to her left and saw the boys had arranged the beds so they were no longer in a line, but now a square. Reggie was still sitting on top of his, Luke doing the same. Alex was lying under a blanket but had propped himself up on one arm. They’d also copied her idea of using bags of clothes as pillows, she noticed. 

“When we would stay in tents with Bobby, we used to talk way into the night,” Luke explained. It took Carrie a moment to realise that that was an invitation for her to join in the conversation, and, smiling softly, she propped herself up too. 

“So, are we gonna talk about how bad Reggie has it for Nick?” Alex began. 

“Um, I think we should talk about you actually, Alexander,” Carrie held up her hand. 

Alex visibly gulped, then composed himself, “I don’t know whatever you might mean.” 

“Oh you know you’ve got him when he brings out the posh voice.” Luke grinned. 

“What? I’m not- I don’t,” Alex stammered, his voice rising about an octave. 

“So, Prince William, am I right?” Reggie asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“No.”

“Somebody’s for a crush,” Luke teased. 

“Nope. I’m going.” Alex turned in his bed, pulling the covers over his head. 

“Nooo, come on, we were just joking,” 

Alex remained silent until Carrie threw his bag back at him, hitting the back of his head.

“Hey!” 

“Come join in the conversation then!” 

“Fine,” Alex grumbled and spun around, “Only if we can talk about how dumb Caleb looked today.”

“Oh man, with his fancy crown,” Luke laughed. 

“Yeah, who died and made him king?” Reggie said, then realised, “Wait, no, I just heard it.” 

“‘I’m the most powerful magic user in the country but I can’t even dress myself properly’” Luke lowered his voice in a poor imitation of Caleb, causing everyone to start laughing, until a harsh light flashed over their tent and they shushed themselves. A hard rapping came from outside. 

“Lights out means lights out.”

“Okay, okay, fine, jeez,” Luke whispered, climbing under the covers. 

Silent laughter hung in the air for the rest of the evening, but eventually Carrie started to hear one of the boys snoring. As she lay there in the dark for hours, she started to wonder what the time was, and how long was left until they’d get woken up. She didn’t know whether she was the last to fall asleep or not, but she did know, lying there and feeling the earth, and all the rocks and bumps that came with it, through the layers of the tent, there was no chance she would feel well rested the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First night as knights-to-be! In which they are twelve years olds at a sleepover....
> 
> As always, thank you so so much for reading! I really appreciate it!


	12. some things they never change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I missed you.”

The moon was covered by a haze of clouds, a grey glow shone in through the castle windows as Flynn headed to the entrance of the castle. She knew Willie had already been taken away somewhere by Caleb to discuss the ceremony, so she was hoping she could catch those clearing away the celebrations to help. And maybe talk to someone. Anyone, at this point. 

“Flynn?”

She turned sharply as she heard a familiar voice call her name. Standing in the doorway, she recognised Julie Molina, holding a weighed down trunk that looked to be full of clothes. 

“Julie?” Flynn gasped, “Oh my god, what’re you doing here?” She rushed over to her friend. “Let me take that,” she grabbed the handle of her bag, despite Julie’s objections, taking some of the weight. 

“I’m staying with you guys for a month, I think,” Julie looked around the entrance hall. “Although I was expecting to be met by someone when I got here. Just, to tell me what I need to do, where I’m staying, stuff like that.” 

“Yeah, Caleb isn’t exactly the welcoming type.” Flynn scoffed, “Don’t worry, if he hasn’t told you where you’re staying that means he doesn’t know or doesn’t care, so you can come stay in my room!” 

“Wait, really? Are you sure?” Julie asked, holding back her excitement. 

“Yeah! And if he gets mad, I’ll take the blame,” Flynn shrugged. 

“You don’t have to do that for me,” Julie said. 

“I left you at all those royal gatherings for the past year or so, I owe you this,” Flynn said firmly, eventually prying the entire trunk from Julie.

“No no no, let me hold it,” Julie insisted, but Flynn ignored her efforts, hefting it down the hallway. 

“I’ve got it, it’s fine!”

“You look like you’re about to fall over.”

“So little faith in me…” Flynn shook her head.

They walked down the corridor, the sound of their giggling echoing through the castle. 

“So,” Julie started as they flung themselves on Flynn’s bed, “Why did you stop coming to things?” 

Flynn grabbed one of her pillows and rested her chin on it. 

“Caleb. He’s building up to something, no one’s left the castle in months. It can’t be good.” 

“Do you have any idea what?” Julie shifted herself so that she was leaning up against the headboard. 

“Nope. Willie would probably have an idea, but you’d have to actually get him alone to ask him.”

“Oh, right, your brother!” Julie exclaimed, “I totally forgot about him.” 

“I don’t blame you, he’s not allowed to go outside. I don’t think he ever has, actually,” Flynn thought about it for a second, “I think Caleb has this big notion of training him to be a Mini-Caleb. I wonder when he’ll realise that’s not going to work.” 

“What do you mean?” Julie sat up and looked at Flynn. 

“Willie doesn’t want to be king. He wants to go travelling more than anything, so unless Caleb plans on living forever, the second he gets the chance, he’ll leave.” 

“Hasn’t he told Caleb that?”

“Honestly I’m not sure. He’s pretty scared of him, and even if he did, Caleb wouldn’t take notice.”

“That’s awful,” Julie said softly. 

“Yeah, so, until Caleb’s gone, Willie’s being kept under close guard.” 

“Why, though?” Julie wondered, “He can’t be kept away forever, right? Especially if he’s going to be king someday. My dad always said strong connections to your people make a strong king.” 

“Beats me. I only see him, like, once every three weeks,” Flynn kicked at the blankets. “And our ‘connection to the people’ is practically nonexistent.” 

“I’m sorry, that must be hard,” Julie sympathised. They sat in silence for a moment or two. 

“Wait, he’s never been outside?” Julie asked after a moment, circling back to what Flynn had said. “Isn’t that, like, dangerous? Must be really hard on him.” 

“Probably? He gets to sit on balconies in the sunlight, but that’s about it.” 

“You’re allowed to go out though, right?” 

“Allowed? No idea,” Flynn said. “Do I go out anyways. Of course, what do you take me for?” She smirked, proud of herself, “There’s all sorts of secret tunnels around, if you know where to look. And lucky for you, I do.” 

“You’ll have to show me sometime,” Julie laughed. 

“Oh don’t worry, you’re gonna get the full tour,” Flynn promised. Then, she had an idea. “Wait, you like music, right? There’s a whole room, a little off the side of the castle, like, a side-shed?” She searched for the right word, “No no, not a shed- it’s like…it’s full of instruments!” Flynn finished.   
She bounced slightly in her seat, “We should go!” 

“You really think we could?” Julie’s eyes shone. “I mean, that sounds like a music hall, won’t it be used for dances and stuff?” 

“Dances? Never in a thousand years,” Flynn assured her, “It’ll be totally empty. Maybe a little dusty, but that’s a problem for later.” 

“That would be great, Flynn,” Julie said. Flynn glowed. It had been so long since she’d seen Julie, she’d started to fear that Julie might’ve forgotten her, or found someone else. That she would’ve been cast aside in her absence. Then she caught herself, she knew Julie wasn’t like that. She was loyal and caring and that’s what made her the best friend ever. And Flynn should know, she had extremely high standards for those she let into her life. 

“We won’t need keys either. The lock hasn’t been changed in decades, it snaps right off.” 

“Not tonight,” Julie said, “I’m so, so tired.” As if on cue, she started to yawn and covered her mouth. 

“Oh, right, you must’ve travelled quite a way,” Flynn said, reaching an arm around Julie’s shoulder as they shuffled together at the centre of the bed. 

“Almost four days…four days!” Julie exclaimed. Flynn watched as she sighed and closed her eyes, “It was worth it, though. I missed you.” 

“I missed you too, Jules,” Flynn smiled at her, bringing her in for a side-hug. 

“To a couple of months together,” Julie said. 

“Here here,” Flynn mimed lifting a drink. “To a couple of months of sneaking out, breaking the rules and being generally terrible role models!”

“Umm, I don’t remember agreeing to that,” Julie said. 

“You agreed to come with me to the music room! I have so many other cool things like that to show you,” Flynn said. 

“I agreed to the music room, that’s one night!” 

“Buzzkill,” Flynn gave her a gentle blow around the head with the pillow she’d been holding. Julie gasped. 

“Oh, I see how it is,” Julie scrambled for her own pillow and raised it threateningly. 

“No wait I didn’t mean it,” Flynn held hers up in front of her like a shield as Julie started her attack. They both started giggling, and by the time they were done Flynn’s bed had been thoroughly messed up, the blankets ruffled and astray and the pillows scattered around the room. Flynn leaned back in the bed, resting on Julie’s shoulder. 

“That’s the most I’ve ever laughed in so long,” Flynn breathed out. 

“Seriously? Man, I have a lot of work to do,” Julie said, then yawned again. “Tomorrow though.” 

Flynn saw Julie’s eyes flutter closed, and a second later, her own eyelids were heavy with exhaustion. She fell asleep on the messy bed, still clutching a pillow, as moonlight filtered through her grated windows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and Julie best friend RIGHTS, I love them so much. Since this takes place at the exact same time as the previous chapter, it’s just one big sleepover at this point. But honestly, that’s what we need sometimes. Thanks for reading!!


	13. a voice i can’t forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ll be watching your progress with interest.”

“First thing you lot need to learn if you’re gonna be any use,” Lieutenant Fuego marched along the field, scanning the line of recruits, “How to properly fit armour on in an instant.” 

“What? We already know how to do that,” Luke said from beside Alex, keeping his voice low so they wouldn’t be heard.

“Yeah, but some of these guys don’t. They’re just kids,” Alex said quietly, “And for now, at least, we’ve got a cover to keep. So just, pretend you don’t know how to do that.” 

“Fine,” Luke grumbled, “I guess it means we don’t have to learn, we can just sit around.”

“Or you could, y’know, help people,” Alex said. 

Luke looked at him with a confused stare.

“Actually, nevermind,” Alex said. 

“You have an hour to complete your tasks!” Fuego finished up his speech, and Alex realised he hadn’t heard a thing. 

“Did anyone get that?” He asked. 

Luke shook his head and Reggie shrugged. Carried rolled her eyes.

“Seriously, guys?” She took a breath. “Suits of armour have been set up around the arena, we have an hour to get them on.” 

“Oh, that should be easy!” Reggie beamed, “We’ve done that so many times.” 

“You guys maybe, I’ve never touched any of this stuff before,” Carrie said, “And before you offer, no, I don’t want help, I can do this myself.” 

She held her head high as she walked over to a spare suit, and begun trying to work out what went where. 

“Should we go over and help her?” Reggie asked. 

“She said she didn’t want help,” Luke shrugged, “I think that makes it pretty clear.”

“Yeah but sometimes people say they don’t want help when they actually do,” Reggie pointed out, “Like how Bobby would always say ‘I’m fine’ when he wasn’t.” 

“Huh…” Luke said, “You’re right actually. And they are related so,” he paused for a moment. “Oh god that’s so strange to think about.” 

Alex had only been half-listening to the conversation. His attention had been drawn elsewhere, as someone Alex had expected to never see up close stepped into the arena. 

“Alex? Hey, did you hear what we said- ohhh,” Luke trailed off as he realised what - or who - Alex was staring at. 

“That’s Prince William, right?” Luke asked. 

“Yes! So- uhh, stop staring at him,” Alex hurried to turn Luke and Reggie around, so that they were facing away from the prince. 

“So...we’re just gonna stand in a line like this all day?” Luke asked. 

“No I just- ugh!” Alex said, cautiously looking back at the prince. Then he involuntarily let out a high pitched noise as the prince glanced over at him. 

“Dude, you sound like a mouse,” Luke said. 

“He saw me!” Alex started to walk away but Luke grabbed the back of his shirt. 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, he’s probably busy with something,” Luke said.

“He’s coming over right now,” Reggie said. 

“What?!” Alex gasped. 

“Yup.” 

“Okay, okay, okay. Okay...okay!” Alex whirled around, and found himself face to face with Prince William.

“Hey,” the prince said.

“H-hey!” Alex said in return, a lot louder than intended, trying to remain casual. He could tell he was failing at that task. 

“I’m here to inspect the new recruits, you mind if I watch you…change into armour? In the least creepy way possible,” the prince said.

“Of course, your highness,” Alex said, regaining his composure, then reached for an armpiece. 

“Please, call me Willie,” the prince - Willie - said. 

“Okay,” Alex smiled. He felt like an idiot. He definitely looked like one. 

Alex placed the piece of armour around his forearm, reaching underneath to fiddle with the straps. 

Why were his hands shaking so much?

“Do you need some help?” Willie asked, moving to steady Alex’s arm. 

“No!” Alex yelped, pulling his arm away, “I mean- no, no thank you.” 

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Willie said, stepping back and clasping his hands behind his back. 

Alex took a deep breath, and pretended he was suiting up for a battle. Though the design of the armour had changed, the mechanics had stayed the same. 

Alex was grateful for this fact, because it meant, after his initial panic, he was able to slip into the rest of the armour with ease. 

“Impressive,” Willie smiled at him, looking the suit up and down. Alex smiled back, uncertain. 

“Um, I hope this isn’t like, rude or anything but,” Alex started, “Shouldn’t you be doing, princely duties...and stuff?” He asked. 

Willie looked down, “Maybe. I got a day off, let’s call it, today. I figured I’d come and see what was happening here. Since you guys might be in my service someday.” 

“Oh, yeah, well, that’s the plan,” Alex gave an awkward thumbs up, his arm clanking with metal as he moved it. 

Willie laughed, and Alex realised for the first time what people meant when they talked about butterflies. 

“Well I’ll be watching your progress with interest…” 

“Alex.”

“Alex,” Willie smiled, “I would shake your hand but,” he gestured at the stiffness of the armour.

“It’s like these things haven’t been cleaned in years,” Alex said, rolling his shoulder. 

“They probably haven’t!” Willie said, “Honestly I’m surprised the armour hasn’t rusted yet.”

“You interested in armour upkeep then?”

“I’m interested in everything,” Willie shrugged. “The library is one of the only rooms I get regular access to, I make the most of it.” 

“That’s so cool,” Alex said, “D’you like fairytales or…?” 

“Well yes, but the maps and geography books are my favourite,” Willie said, “The places described in there sound absolutely incredible!” 

Alex listened with genuine fascination as Willie rambled about places he’d read about, places he wanted to go, places he’d only dream of going to. 

He almost forgot he was in the presence of a prince, which he didn’t think was his fault, considering he’d never heard of Prince William before today. 

Willie broke off and Alex was dragged out of his entranced state as a man all dressed up in indigo approached Willie.

“Your Highness, your father wants you back inside. Immediately.”

Alex’s face fell, as the man placed a hand on Willie’s shoulder. 

Willie shrugged him off, “Just give me a second.” 

He grabbed Alex’s hand and looked into his eyes. As Alex looked into Willie’s eyes, dark and alive with emotion, his head felt light. 

“I hope I see you again soon, Alex,” Willie shook his hand. They stayed in that position for a moment, hands locked. 

“Your Highness,” the man behind Willie repeated, more firmly. 

Willie cast an apologetic look at Alex, but followed the man out of the arena. 

Alex looked wistfully after them for a few moments, and was abruptly interrupted by Luke slinging an arm around his shoulder from behind. 

“Well!” Luke exclaimed, “What was that?” 

“Nothing!” Alex said, “He just came and asked a few questions about what we’re doing, nothing important.”

“That was a long conversation for nothing important,” Carrie said sceptically from where she was fitting the last of her armour. 

“Okay, maybe it was something,” Alex said, holding back a grin. 

“Knew it,” Luke said in satisfaction. 

“It’s kind of romantic, the prince and his knight in shining armour,” Carrie said, winking at Alex. 

“You can shut up right now,” Alex replied. 

Carrie smiled wryly at him.

“Guys? A little help?” 

From a few yards away, Reggie had somehow put a helmet on backwards.

“God, Reggie, we weren’t even supposed to put our helmets on!” 

“I know!”

“Did you really?”

“I did!”

“Then why on earth did you do it?”

“I don’t know!” 

Alex waited behind as Carrie and Luke rushed over to steady Reggie and keep him from falling over. 

Willie’s voice kept playing in his ears. 

Alex wished Willie got another day off sometime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Willex... 
> 
> Honestly from here on out be prepared for a LOT of flustering, these kids need desperate help when it comes to romance.


	14. everything has got a price

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t forget who made you king.”

‘I’ll only be gone ten minutes’, is what Flynn had told Julie. 

An hour ago. 

Apparently securing supplies for the evening had taken longer than Flynn anticipated, and after forty minutes staying in Flynn’s room, Julie had decided to go and look for her friend herself. 

Now, she was realising that that had been a terrible idea. 

She didn’t know the layout of the castle, didn’t know which door led where, didn’t know where Flynn had been intending to go. 

But now it was too late to turn back, she would’ve only ended up more lost, so she decided to commit to finding Flynn. 

Caleb’s castle was a lot different then Julie’s own. The halls were dark and unkept, the stone walls bare, and a perpetual breeze seemed to flow through the corridors. 

A thick shawl Julie had packed, that she didn’t think she’d need to use considering it was summer, had been a lot more useful than she’d anticipated. 

Eventually she reached a winding staircase, the kind that spiralled and stretched up into a tower. 

As she reached the top, the atmosphere around her seemed to change. 

Julie wasn’t one to believe in ghosts, but she imagined that if a room was to feel haunted, it would’ve felt like that. 

“Flynn?” Julie tried to call for her friend, but it came out as a hoarse whisper. 

As she slowly made her way down the hall, sticking close to the walls for some semblance of security, she heard a voice, like a snake’s rattle. 

She pressed herself against the stone, realising there was a doorway beside her that she hadn’t noticed before. 

“I can’t do anything about that,” a voice she recognised came from inside. Caleb Covington. 

“Don’t forget who made you king,” the snake voice hissed in reply. 

“You didn’t make me king,” Caleb snarled back, “You merely got rid of the old one.”

Julie clapped both hands to her mouth to stifle a gasp. 

“I got myself to the top,” Caleb snarled, “I did all the hard work.” 

“And that would’ve gotten you nowhere without me.” 

“Regardless,” Caleb said. 

Julie could hear the venom in his voice. 

“I’m not sure why you’ve come to me,” he continued, “We made our deal, you’re free to go anywhere in the world.”

A low chuckle sounded from the room. 

“But that’s why I’ve come. The knights you promised me escaped. Twice.”

A pause. Julie could tell Caleb didn’t know what that meant either.

She wasn’t sure whether that was a comfort, or whether she should feel worse that the king didn’t understand the mysterious voice either. 

“I don’t know what you mean. Those boys I sent to you would never have run away from a fight,” Caleb said.

Julie’s mind raced. 

“Evidently you were wrong,” the voice said sharply. 

“I’m never wrong.”

“You have two weeks to fix this, or I’ll take back what I gave to you.” 

Julie waited outside the door, eyes closed as Caleb roared in anger, and a loud crash came from the room. 

She then realised she did not want to be found alone up here. 

Julie turned around, almost running towards the staircase, but trying not to let her shoes make noise on the wooden flooring. 

“Miss Molina?” Caleb’s voice called out from behind her. 

Julie froze in place. 

“Your majesty,” was the only thing she could think of to say to him. 

“I didn’t know you’d arrived,” Caleb said, looking her up and down. 

Julie took slight offence to that. He was the one who’d invited her, and he hadn’t even realised she’d arrived? 

“Uh yeah. Yesterday actually,” Julie kept her answers short and snappy, hoping to get out of this conversation as fast as possible. 

“I see,” said Caleb, narrowing his eyes, “And is there a reason you’re in my private hallway?” 

Of course she was in his private hallway.

“I was uh, looking for the kitchens. They said they’d have some food for me,” Julie said quickly, “But I see it’s not here, so, I’ll just be going now!” 

Julie knew where the kitchens were, Flynn had shown her yesterday, but she also knew enough about Caleb to know he wouldn’t walk to the other side of the castle to personally show her the kitchens. 

She seemed to be right, because Caleb sighed and pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose. 

“Ah, just,” Caleb said, “Go and find my daughter, she’ll tell you.” He waved Julie off, “Don't come back up here again.” 

Julie’s chance at a first impression on the king had gone poorly. 

As she headed down the stairs, she realised how badly that could’ve gone. She was relieved he didn’t press her with questions, she wasn’t the best liar. 

She wasn’t exactly sure the details of whatever happened in there, but ‘getting rid’ of someone sounded extremely ominous to her. 

“Jules?” Flynn exclaimed as Julie rounded a corner, bumping into her friend. 

“Hey, where have you been?” Julie asked. 

“Looking for you! I told you I’d be back,” Flynn said. 

“No, I went looking for you!”

“Whatever, the point is, I’ve got the stuff we need for tonight!” Flynn bounced on her heels. 

“How much can we possibly need for a night in a music hall?” 

“A lot more than you’d think!” 

“Really?” Julie raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah! I’ve got a whole picnic ready and everything, plus cutlery and a blanket, and cups and plates and everything!” Flynn said. 

“Woah, really?” Julie asked, a little impressed. 

“Of course! I’ve got a year of best friendship to catch up on!” Flynn linked her arm around Julie’s and pulled her back towards her bedroom. 

“Wait, you said a picnic? Where’d you get all the food?” Julie held back.

“I know a guy,” Flynn replied, “Don’t worry, I didn’t steal anything.”

“I never suggested you would.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did suggest that. I didn’t steal the food but I did steal the key to the music hall.”

“I thought you said the lock just came off?”

“Think of it as a Plan B,” Flynn assured Julie, “Now let’s go! We’ve gotta get ready for our night at the music hall!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pay no attention to the mysterious voice behind the door.
> 
> The real important thing in this chapter is how good of a friend Flynn is.
> 
> I feel like I’m repeating myself, but thanks for reading! I really appreciate it, and any comments!!


	15. make an entrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can tell you don’t mean it, but thanks anyway.”

Flynn waited in her bedroom, pacing up and down, as she heard the noises of the castle shutting off for the night outside. 

“How much longer do you think?” Julie asked from her bed. 

“Not long,” Flynn replied, “Maybe...ten minutes or so?” 

She stopped and faced the door.

“Just as soon as you can’t hear anything outside.” 

They waited, and Flynn was right with her prediction this time. In just less than ten minutes, the scuffling of feet in the corridors had subsided and Flynn cautiously opened her door. 

As she’d hoped, there was no one else in sight and, picking up two of the bags, she motioned to Julie to grab the other two and follow her. 

They moved silently through the hallways, the hems of their gowns brushing against the stone-tiled floor. 

Flynn led Julie through an archway, which led into a small alley, eventually breaking out onto the castle grounds. 

They crossed over the dirt as quickly as they could, heading towards the music hall. 

A few hundred yards to the left, the tents were set up for the tournament. 

The music hall was a fairly large building, overgrown with ivy that stretched up the walls and creeped into the windows. It had been painted a deep reddish-brown, but the paint was chipped and falling away at the edges, and Flynn didn’t have any hope of ever seeing it restored. 

“Is that where the knights are sleeping?” Julie asked, pointing to the field of tents. 

“The would-be knights, but yeah,” Flynn said, dragging her gaze away from the approaching hall. 

“Did you go to the opening ceremony?” 

“Yup,” said Flynn, “It was kinda lonely though. Willie did the welcoming speech thingy, so I sat in our box by myself.” 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the ceremony,” Julie said sympathetically.

“It’s fine,” Flynn shrugged, “Alright, we’re here.”

She hurried up the cobbled pathway the last few steps to the building, rummaging in through the bags to reach a key. 

As she stood in the doorway, she could hear the soft rushing of the river, she knew it ran in a circle around the castle and came particularly close to the music hall. 

Flynn inserted the key into the lock, turning it gently at first, testing to see whether it would snap. 

She knew the way she’d explained it to Julie had made it seem as though she went to the music hall on a regular basis, but the truth was Flynn hadn’t been in there since she was nine or ten. 

Though she was sure no one else had visited it since then either, so it couldn’t have changed too much from last time she saw it. 

With a click, the key found its place in the lock, and Flynn was able to push down on the handle. 

“Your highness,” Flynn joked, stepping aside for Julie to enter first. 

“Why, thank you,” Julie said, as she pushed down the handle and eased one of the grand double doors open. 

Flynn heard Julie let out a tiny gasp as she went through the doors, and quickly followed her friend inside. 

She was right. The music hall was exactly how she remembered it, if not a little dustier. 

Against the wall, an organ sat just below a makeshift stage, an array of benches facing it. 

To the sides of this stage, several different kinds of instruments were stashed in one heap, drums, lutes, horns, almost all the different types of instruments you could get. 

“Flynn this is…” Julie trailed off, at a loss for words. 

“Pretty cool, right?”

“Why don’t you guys use this anymore?” Julie asked, incredulous. 

Flynn shrugged, “Just don’t. I think it’s a waste, but what can you do?” 

“Oh definitely a waste,” said Julie tracing her fingers on the keys of the organ. 

“How loud would this be if I played it?” She asked. 

“I’d say pretty,” Flynn said, “The harpsichord would be quieter though.” Flynn motioned to where the harpsichord sat a little offstage. 

Julie grinned and rushed over to it, then began to play a soft melody. Flynn browsed through the instruments, looking for the trumpet she’d come across last time. She remembered playing it nonstop and annoying the hell out of Willie. 

“Aha!” She said to herself as she saw a gleam of gold, and reached for the trumpet, pulling it up to examine it. 

A covering of dust and dirt had built up around the trumpet, a sight no one wants to see on something you have to put against your mouth to play. 

She silently cursed to herself, then remembered that she could just go and wash it off. There was a river not even a minute’s walk away. 

“Uh, hey, Jules!” Flynn called across the room, “I’m just gonna go wash this trumpet thing, it’s all mucked up.” 

“Okay, don’t be too long though,” Julie said. 

“Me? I’ll be five minutes, tops,” Flynn said. 

Julie nodded, turning back to the keys, and resumed her tune. 

It was harder than Flynn thought it would be to reach the riverbank, probably because of her gown that dragged along the floor. Admittedly, it could’ve been worse. She could’ve been wearing a fancy dress. At least the plain one wasn’t puffing up everywhere and getting caught in branches. 

She was going to have to burn the mud out of the dress later. 

She leaned down with the trumpet in one hand to run it through the water, scrubbing at it with the other hand, and had been making progress when she heard a violent splash of water a little upstream. 

Flynn figured she could’ve ignored it, but also she was a naturally curious person, and would definitely have spent the rest of the day wondering what sounded like it was drowning in not even a metre-deep river. 

It only took a couple of minutes for her to follow the sound upstream when she came across the cause of it. 

To be honest, it was impressive. The girl in the river was struggling to get out of the stream, hair dark with water and a face like thunder. 

Flynn stood there, frozen, a very uncharacteristic thing to do for her. 

The girl in the stream was unfairly pretty. 

“Are you just gonna stand there?” 

Flynn realised a voice had snapped at her and sprung into action, stepping into the water. It was freezing cold and soaked right through Flynn’s clothes, weighing her down slightly, but she kept moving. 

“How did you even manage to get stuck in this water? It goes up to my waist, and I’m not exactly tall!” Flynn asked in disbelief as she went to help the girl. 

Too late she realised the girl had gotten caught on a branch, which had been caught on two rocks, because instead of lifting the girl from the water as anticipated, Flynn ended up being dragged to the floor as well.

“Nice job,” River Girl scoffed, and Flynn suddenly felt like leaving her there. 

Despite that urge, she took a deep breath and turned around, ignoring the girl’s objections as she crawled around her. 

“Where’s the branch stuck?” Flynn asked, water flicking into her eyes. 

Okay, now she could see why the girl had gotten stuck, the current was stronger than she’d expected. 

“You think I know? I can’t feel my fingers let alone a stick,” River Girl said. 

“Well, can you give me a rough idea?” Flynn asked, her voice rising. 

“I think it’s got the back of my neck,” the girl said. 

“That was all I needed from the beginning, you could’ve just said that,” Flynn exclaimed, pushing down on the girl’s head to reach the back of her shirt collar. 

“Can you be a little more careful?” 

“Not if you want to get out!” 

“Just be gentler!” 

“Oh, sorry princess!” Flynn was taking an immediate disliking to this girl. 

Finally, she saw where a stick had hooked itself into the back of the girl’s shirt, and tried to dislodge it. 

It took way longer than it should’ve done, due to the fact Flynn’s hands were freezing and she couldn’t steady them. 

As soon as the branch’s hold relinquished, the girl shot forward and sat up in the river, shivering. 

“You’re welcome,” Flynn said. 

The girl’s head turned so sharply Flynn was tempted to ask if her neck was okay. 

Briefly, Flynn thought she saw the girl’s face change and her eyes widen, but it was only for a second until her expression hardened. 

After glaring at Flynn for a moment, River Girl stood up - slipping once or twice, which Flynn enjoyed watching immensely - and crossed her arms, wading to the riverbank. 

Flynn only just realised how numbingly cold it was there in the water, and quickly leapt up to follow her out of the water. 

“So you’re really not gonna say thank you?” Flynn asked. 

The girl sighed, “Thank you,” she muttered. 

“I can tell you don’t mean it, but thanks anyway, I guess,” Flynn rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t need your help,” the girl said. 

Flynn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. 

“Really? Cause it sure looked like it from where I was standing,” Flynn said. 

“I could’ve gotten out by myself,” she repeated.

“Seriously? God, okay,” Flynn said, crossing her arms. 

The girls seemed to realise they were in the exact same pose and uncrossed their arms at the same time.

River Girl sat down on a large rock nearby, and started twisting the water out of her hair. In the moonlight, her face seemed to glow and her eyes looked like stars. 

God, Flynn hated this girl. 

She also couldn’t keep mentally referring to her as River Girl. That made her sound like some kind of fairy and was far too magical than what this girl deserved. 

“Okay, well, I saved you from that river so now you gotta do something for me,” Flynn said, “What’s your name?”

“I was scared you were gonna ask me for a kiss then,” the other girl muttered. 

“You wanna kiss me?” Flynn teased. 

To Flynn’s great satisfaction, the other girl turned bright red.

“Trust me, that’s the last thing I’d wanna do,” she said. She paused for a moment, “Carrie.”

“Huh?”

“That’s my name,” Carrie said. 

It fit her perfectly. Ugh, Flynn had to stop thinking compliments about her. 

“Thank you,” Flynn said. 

“You’re not going to tell me your name?” Carrie asked. 

“You didn’t save me from a river,” said Flynn. 

Carrie narrowed her eyes at Flynn. 

“You’re not in the competition,” Carrie noted. 

“Aw, gee, what gave it away?” Flynn retorted. 

“Do you work in the castle?” 

Flynn imagined the look on Carrie’s face when she told her that she was, in fact, the princess.

“Yup,” Flynn said. 

“So why are you out sneaking around the riverbanks?” Carrie asked suspiciously. 

This girl had a lot of questions. 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Flynn shot back. 

“I’m getting water for…” Carrie stopped short, looking around for something.

“Lost your bucket?” Flynn asked. 

“Yeah and my friends are kinda counting on me to have it,” Carrie said, her voice pitching up. 

“Calm down, it’s just a bucket.”

“It is not just a bucket!”

“Okay, okay, fine,” Flynn mumbled. 

“What the hell is that?” 

Ah. Flynn had forgotten about the trumpet, not cast aside on the grass. 

“That’s my...trumpet?” 

“Why do you have a trumpet?” 

“Why don’t you have a trumpet?” Flynn shrugged, not feeling like explaining herself. 

“That doesn’t...what?” Carrie seemed at a loss for words, which was absolutely fine by Flynn. 

“Well,” Flynn reached down to pick up her trumpet, “I’m heading that way. If I see your bucket, I’ll make sure to get it to you.”

Carrie huffed, “Doubtful.”

Oh, Flynn was so getting that bucket back. 

“See you around!” Flynn called over her shoulder as she started the journey back up the river, not waiting to hear Carrie’s reply. 

About halfway back to the music hall, Flynn saw a shine of metal glinting under the stream. 

“Jackpot,” she whispered to herself, leaving the trumpet and getting on her knees, leaning out to dig the bucket up. She turned it twice in her hands, before tucking it under her arm and picking the trumpet back up from where she’d dropped it. 

As she pushed open the door to the hall, she saw Julie sitting by the organ, anxiously tapping her foot. Flynn winced, the trip had taken a little longer than she’d promised. 

“Flynn!” Julie cried when she saw her enter the room, rushing over. “God, you’re soaking wet!” 

“Sorry I took so long,” Flynn said.

“I need to stop trusting you when you estimate times,” Julie said.

Flynn laughed, “Yeah, probably.” 

“We don’t need to stay here if you’re going to get a cold,” Julie worried. 

“Umm, no! I promised you a picnic and a picnic you shall receive,” Flynn said, walking over to the bags they’d brought with them. 

“So why did you take so long?” Julie wondered, following Flynn. 

“Oh, I got caught up by something. It wasn’t fun,” Flynn said. 

“Doesn’t look like it,” Julie agreed, gesturing at Flynn's mud-coated dress. 

“That doesn’t matter now,” Flynn extracted an apple from the bag and presented it to Julie, “For you, madam.”

Julie took the apple and sat down on one of the benches. Flynn started spreading out the rest of the food. 

“Make sure you stay warm,” Julie said through a mouthful of apple. 

“Always do!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Flynn learns she is not immune to pretty girls. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, and, fear not, this will not be the end of the music hall!


	16. bouncing back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Will you be staying long, your Highness?”

“Wait go back, why did she have a trumpet?” 

Alex leaned down to help Carrie heave up a pile of swords they were supposed to be polishing. 

“Why should I know?” Carrie said. 

“I mean didn’t you like…ask her?” Alex shrugged, “That’s what I would’ve done.”

“Yeah well you weren’t soaking wet, freezing cold and on your last nerve with some random girl,” Carrie said. 

“But a trumpet?” Alex pressed on, “That’s so weird!” 

“You don’t think I know that?” Carrie said, rolling her eyes, “She said she worked in the castle, so maybe she’s a musician?” 

“Maybe she’ll serenade you with her trumpet,” Alex joked. 

“Maybe you’ll shut up.” 

“I’m just kidding,” Alex said, knocking his shoulder against Carrie’s, causing her to nearly drop the swords. 

“This isn’t fair, I wanted to tease you about the prince, can we circle back to that?” Carrie asked.

“Ha! Nope. Not when you encountered a mysterious trumpet girl in the woods,” Alex replied. 

They reached the tree stump that they’d claimed as their work station, wincing as they dropped the swords onto the floor with a clatter.

Carrie assumed that the next lesson they did was going to be sword fighting, but apparently they needed to clean the entire weapons storage beforehand. 

According to Fuego, modesty was the most important trait a knight could have, which Carrie thought was complete bullshit when he walked around in a flashy suit and cape all day. 

So, they were being paired off and used for manual labour.

“Are you going to meet her again?” Alex asked as they started the unpleasant task of attempting to clean the blades with nothing but a sponge and water. 

“What? Why would I want to do that?” 

“Clearly you like her,” Alex said, as if it was an obvious fact, and annoying Carrie deeply. 

“I do not like her,” Carrie realised her voice sounded extremely defensive, which was not helping her case. 

“All I’m saying is, you haven’t stopped talking about her for the entire morning. Why do you think Luke and Reggie were so quick to partner with each other?” 

Well, when he put it that way it made it sound like Carrie was obsessed with her or something. Which was blatantly not true. 

She decided saying something would not help her case, so stayed silent. Alex made a small noise of satisfaction, and Carrie aimed a glare at him. 

“Wow I’ve never been on the receiving end of one of those...it’s kinda scary,” said Alex. 

Carrie crossed her arms and turned away, trying to stop herself from smiling, “Exactly, it is scary, so don’t joke about it.” 

“This is like being threatened by an angry kitten,” Alex marvelled. 

“Shut up!”

“What? It’s true!” 

All of a sudden, Carrie heard a commotion from just behind them. 

“Wonder what that’s about,” Alex said. 

“Maybe your Prince Charming has come back,” Carrie fake-gasped. 

“Ha ha, very funny.” 

Carrie giggled and set back to work on the blade. She was faintly aware of Alex turning around and greeting someone and something clattered to the floor in front of her. 

“Found your bucket,” a smug voice came from above. 

Alex gasped from beside Carrie and whispered to her, “Is this the girl?”

Carrie wished he would shut up, because the girl immediately picked up on it and said:

“Aw you talk about me? I’m flattered.” 

“Don’t be, I don’t say anything nice,” Carrie shot back. 

“That hurts my feelings, Carrie,” the girl said. 

Carrie was reminded of the fact the girl knew her name when Carrie didn’t know hers, and it made her feel angry. 

“That was the point,” Carrie said. 

Carrie moved to resume cleaning the swords and ignore the girl when she noticed the two royal guards flanking her. 

Someone who worked at the castle wouldn’t need that level of security. 

“Your Highness, how much longer will you be?” One of them asked. 

God, she was an idiot. Of course she would manage to start a fight with the princess. A small comfort was at least now Carrie wouldn’t have to ask for her name. 

Flynn’s smug grin widened as she saw the realisation on Carrie’s face. 

“My brother came down here yesterday, I think it’s only fair I should do the same,” she explained to her guards. 

The guards backed off, but not completely, stepping about five meters away. Carrie lifted her head to properly look at Flynn for the first time. 

She was certainly wearing very different clothes than the night before. 

The plain, mud stained gown had been lost in favour of a dress, deep amber, that matched against her skin perfectly. Her hair had been done in braids, perfectly placed, and tied in with thin gold ribbons. 

At least last night, Carrie’s simple shirt and pants hadn’t been too much of a downgrade than a simple white dress, but now she felt severely underdressed, even down to her boots, which were hastily - and messily - tied. 

“Will you be staying long, your Highness?” Carrie tried to insert as much disdain into her voice as possible on those last two words. 

“Not at all, princess,” Carrie wasn’t sure Flynn could call her that, given the circumstances, “I just came to give you your bucket. Return it. Gloat.”

“Show off?” Carrie supplied, gesturing to Flynn’s elaborate get up and the guards.

“This isn’t even me trying,” Flynn laughed, then glanced at the swords, “You need me to help with those too? Or I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that isn’t you trying either.” 

“Maybe if I wasn’t interrupted,” said Carrie, “By someone who seems to think everyone should work around their schedule.” 

Flynn pressed her lips together. “I’ll leave then.” 

“Fine.”

“Fine!” 

Flynn turned and strode back towards her guards, still managing to keep an air of respectability. 

“Mysterious girl was the princess after all?” Alex asked once she was out of sight, “Damn, that was an eventful night for you.”

Carrie didn’t say anything, staring at the empty space where Flynn had been. 

“We both really went and got mixed up with royalty, huh?” Alex wondered out loud. 

“You okay?” He asked, turning his attention back to Carrie.

Carrie groaned and put her head in her hands. 

“I’ll take that as a maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and Carrie got two chapters in a row about them, but don’t worry, the others will get their time soon.
> 
> Also, I did not lie in the tags, our very own Luke and Julie will be meeting! I’m not sure how much further into the future that will be, but it WILL happen!!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading!


	17. our stars collided

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lead the way.”

Reggie wasn’t sure whether he should collect water, then meet Nick or meet Nick, then collect water. 

He also wasn’t sure whether he should’ve been panicking about it as much as he was, but that was something to worry about another time. 

Earlier, when they’d been cleaning the swords, he’d been voicing his worries to Luke, but Luke’s advice of “just don’t worry about it, man,” did not help. He was worrying about it very much. 

Eventually, he settled on collecting water before his meeting, as he thought he might completely forget to go and actually do what he was supposed to be doing after seeing Nick. 

Which was unlike him. Reggie had never felt this flustered around anyone before. Not when he flirted with all those girls outside the inns they stayed at. Not when he flirted with some of the other young knights in their troop. 

But then, he wasn’t flirting with Nick. Not really. That type of flirting was more of an entertainment to Reggie, it didn’t mean anything. 

So, waiting there beside a flimsy wooden fence, clenching by and unclenching his hands as he waited, he told himself that this didn’t mean anything either. 

He never was a good liar. 

Reggie started to wonder, waiting there under the starlight, if he’d gotten the day wrong. What if Nick didn’t want to see him? He’d missed the last time they’d arranged, because it had been the first night and they weren’t allowed out. What if Nick hated him now?

No. No, no, no he was just overreacting. 

Reggie took a deep breath and looked up, only to see Nick’s face smiling at him, on the other side of the fence. 

“Hey!” Reggie said breathlessly, the cloud of anxieties blown away. Nick didn’t hate him!

“Hi! Sorry I’m late, I had to,” he gestured vaguely, “Do something for my aunt. I won’t go into detail because it’s very boring but it involves hanging clothes up on a line.”

Reggie laughed, “I mean, it sounds more interesting than scrubbing metal all day.”

“Oh man is that what they’ve got you doing?” Nick asked, “Feeling glad I didn’t get dragged into it right about now.”

“I’m feeling glad Carrie isn’t here right now to strangle you for that,” Reggie said. 

“How are you guys getting along with her?” Nick asked cautiously, “I know she can be a bit difficult sometimes, so I was just wondering, because she’s actually super great once you get to know her, and-”

“Nick,” Reggie cut him off, “We’re doing fine. Our motto is to talk to someone until they can’t avoid you anymore, and it seemed to work! I think she’s warming up to us,” Reggie beamed, then thought about it for a second, “Well, more to Alex than me and Luke, but we’re getting there.” 

“I’m glad to hear it,” Nick said earnestly, “I worry about you guys sometimes. I know this isn’t exactly new to you, but I’m guessing things are pretty different?” 

“Yeah,” Reggie agreed, “It’s…I don’t wanna say difficult, it’s…challenging,” he said, for lack of a better word. 

“So, tell me more,” Nick leaned his arms on the fence, “What’s it like being among the future of the kingdom?” 

“Honestly?” Reggie said, “I don’t know. They keep us pretty much separated for the most of it, it’s a big field.” 

“So you haven’t, like, talked to anyone else?” Nick asked. 

“Nope,” replied Reggie, “I don’t even know most of their names.” 

“Huh, that’s strange,” Nick said slowly, “Although, I suppose it’ll make it easier to face off against them in the tournament.”

Oh, the tournament! Reggie had completely forgotten about it. Now that he thought about it, it was kinda weird they hadn’t mentioned it yet. Maybe it was some part of ‘we want to teach you valuable skills without bringing up competition first’.

Or maybe they’d said something and Reggie hadn’t been paying attention, which was likely. 

He didn’t want Nick to know that, though. 

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Reggie said. 

Reggie had noticed a pattern. He didn’t usually care about what other people thought of him, being himself was one of the things that came easiest to him. 

So what was going on with Nick? 

He didn’t have time for that deep insight into his feelings, though, because soon Nick was bombarding him with questions about what they’d been doing, what it was like on the other side of the fence. 

“You could come over!” Reggie exclaimed, “This fence is tiny and broken, you could easily climb over it!” 

“Are you sure?” Nick looked at it hesitantly, “It looks like I’ll get my clothes stuck on the splinters.” 

“I’ll help you over,” Reggie offered his hand out before he knew what he was doing, and felt the heat rushing to his face as Nick took his hand, their fingers brushing over each other. 

They struggled with the fence for a while, Nick trying to swing his legs across but getting caught. They eventually ended up doing an awkward hop-jump, where Reggie had to lift Nick up and over the fence. 

Nick tripped into Reggie’s arms as he cleared the fence, and Reggie froze. 

“Hi.”

“Hey.” 

They stayed like that for a second at most, but to Reggie it felt like hours. 

They nervously chuckled, stepping apart from each other. 

“So, what now?” Nick asked. 

Reggie shrugged, “I could show you the field of tents. Not that we can go in them, but…” Reggie trailed off. 

“No, that would be nice,” Nick said. 

“Alright! Let’s go,” Reggie pulled back a bush, clearing a path for Nick, “After you, my good sir.”

“Why thank you, brave knight,” Nick said, stepping through. 

Reggie hoped it was dark enough to hide his rapidly blushing face. 

They sat for a few hours, backs resting against tree trunks, facing each other. The open space of tents stretching out in front of them. 

It was nice. Peaceful. Reggie enjoyed just talking. It was different than talking to Luke, or Alex or even Carrie. Less intense, Reggie thought was the best way to put it. 

Reggie ran Nick through a basic day for him, their ten minute breakfast in a huge tent, the way Luke would steal everyone's food, how after that they were briefed on tasks for the day and then worked on those until dinner before sunset. 

Nick, in return, told Reggie about his life. What life was like with his dads, how his little sister was obsessed with the idea of princesses, one time when he, Carrie and Kayla got caught stealing chicken eggs. 

It sounded so mundane, so normal, and Reggie loved it. 

He also loved being a knight, that wasn’t up for debate. But sometimes he longed for the normality of a life like that. 

They stayed like that, trading stories, occasionally getting distracted by a firefly, until the moon was high in the sky. 

Reggie yawned, and Nick must’ve picked up on it because he started to stand up. 

“I should really get going.”

“Are you sure?” Reggie asked. 

“Yeah,” Nick smiled, “You look like you’re about to fall asleep and probably have to do something tomorrow, so, I’ll leave you to it.”

Reggie stood up as well, shaking grass off of himself. 

“I’ll help you back over the fence,” he said. 

“Thanks,” Nick responded, his eyes shining, “Lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will just turn into me giving the ships fluffy scenes for a while, so if you’re here for plot, bear with me. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> (Also, I wish I could get round to responding to each one but I truly appreciate your comments so much!!!)


	18. a bad note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I need to go and clear my head.”

‘Your fake father might be guilty of regicide’ was not one of the first things Flynn wanted to hear in the morning. 

If you’d told her that five days ago, she would not have been surprised, but now she was feeling an unpredicted wave of shock. 

Although, she supposed if you’d told her five days ago, she would’ve also been surprised? Her head was spinning too much. 

“Flynn? Are you okay?” Julie asked from beside her. 

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Flynn asked, her voice shaking. 

“You seemed really excited for that night. I didn’t want to mess it up.”

“A treasonous plot is more important than a picnic but I’m just too confused to be angry at you or argue about why you should’ve mentioned it right now,” Flynn said.

Julie laughed slightly, “At least you’re not mad at me?”

“Yet.” Flynn reminded her. 

“What do you want to do about it?” Julie asked. 

“What can we do?” Flynn returned, “We don’t have any proof, we can’t be sure you heard anything, or what you heard. There’s too much uncertainty.” 

Julie nodded, “I won’t make any decisions, how we handle this is up to you.”

Up to Flynn. For the first time, something was up to her. She’d wanted this for so long, to be trusted to make an important decision. But not like this. 

She hated the fact she felt sad. Caleb hadn’t done anything for her. He’d hurt Willie, who was more Flynn’s family than the king would ever be. And yet. 

“I need to go clear my head,” Flynn started to get up, and Julie stayed behind. 

“Take all the time you need,” she said. 

As Flynn paced in circles around the tiny garden, her mind raced. She’d always known Caleb had pulled some strings to get to the position he was in, but murder? She hadn’t considered it. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to consider it. If she’d thought about it harder, would she have come to that conclusion? 

If this was happening to anyone except herself, she knew the advice she’d be giving. 

Don’t focus on the ‘what if’s, just try to move onto what to do next. 

Flynn found that was a lot easier said than done. 

She kicked a stone. 

The joy of last night had been totally forgotten, swept away by this wave of doubt. Doubt about what Julie had heard. Doubt about what to do next. 

Doubt about herself. 

Flynn had always thought of herself as a decision-maker. She wasn’t easily swayed by emotions, and Willie always said she’d make a far better leader than he would. 

But in that moment, she wasn’t so sure anymore. 

The conflict of emotions was consuming. She wanted to fully hate Caleb, the man who’d lied, cheated and stolen, but she was unable to. 

And that scared her. 

Because it turned out that you didn’t have to like someone for attachment to creep in. 

Even if he’d been terrible, he was still the only parental figure Flynn had ever had. And yeah, she was still obviously going to do everything in her power to take him down. There was no excuses for what he’d done, or, apparently might still be doing. It was just a lot harder than she’d anticipated. 

Flynn stopped in her tracks. 

What was clear:

They didn’t have enough proof against Caleb to make any accusations.   
If they did make any accusations, they couldn’t be sure people would back them up.   
They didn’t know how powerful Caleb was. 

Flynn sighed. All in all, it seemed pretty hopeless. 

The only thing to do was wait. 

Which was what Flynn told Julie when she returned to the bedroom. 

“So he might’ve killed someone and we’re just going to not do anything about it?” Julie asked quietly. 

“Yup,” Flynn agreed. 

“Okay,” Julie looked as worried as Flynn felt, “Okay, that’s fine, I’m just going to avoid him as much as possible.”

“I mean, as far as I’m aware no one’s died recently,” Flynn shrugged. 

“Maybe it’s,” she took a breath, “Maybe we got it wrong and he didn’t do anything.”

“Maybe.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Like I said. Wait,” Flynn drew her knees up to her chest, “And then I’ll try and talk to Willie about it at some point. See if he knows anything.”

“Yeah,” Julie said, looking down. 

“Hey,” Flynn walked over and put an arm around Julie, “This isn’t your fault. I can practically hear you blaming yourself.”

“I know. I won’t,” Julie replied shortly. 

Flynn was unconvinced, but left it at that. 

“Hey, can I use the keys?” Julie asked after a while, “For the music hall?”

“Uhhh, sure,” Flynn got up and started searching her cabinets for the key, “Want me to come with you?”

“Is it okay if I go by myself?” Julie asked. 

“Of course,” Flynn replied, “Keep the keys as well. You’ll use it more than I will.” 

Flynn had barely finished the sentence before Julie’s arms were wrapped around her, and she returned the embrace. 

“I really did miss you all that time,” Julie said. 

“I know. I did too,” Flynn smiled into Julie’s shoulder. 

“Oh,” Flynn said as they pulled apart, “Don’t go over there in the day, though.” 

“I know, I know. I can break the rules sometimes!” Julie said. 

Flynn made a disbelieving noise, and Julie gasped, offended. 

“I can!” Julie insisted. 

“Alright, alright, I believe you one hundred percent,” said Flynn. 

“Really? It kinda sounds like you don’t.”

“Huh, I wonder why.”

“I’m going to go get food,” Julie said, reaching for an overcoat, “You coming?”

“Yeah, just give me a minute or two. You go, I’ll catch up,” Flynn waved her out of the door. 

Flynn walked over to a dresser, fit with three drawers. When she reached to open it, the top drawer was dusty and stiff. It hadn’t been opened in years, and Flynn hoped what she was looking for was still in there. 

Inside, an old, leather-bound journal lay at the bottom of the drawer. Flynn reached in to grab it. 

She’d tried the whole keeping a diary thing, back when she was seven or eight. It hadn’t stuck. She’d either forget to write it down, not have anything interesting to say or feel embarrassed about it, which was ridiculous because no one was going to read it. 

Flynn thought that writing down the thoughts might help organise them, or slightly calm the storm of emotions in her mind. 

So she did. She wrote about everything that had happened, and by the end couldn’t believe it had only been a day or two. 

She was exhausted. But it did help, she felt slightly clearer afterwards. 

Returning the book to its place, she made a mental note to try that out more often. 

She didn’t realise she’d soon have a lot more to write about than she’d ever expected.

Definitely a lot more than she’d ever wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flynn finds out some things about herself and others. 
> 
> And a slight change of tone then the last couple chapters, because no matter what there is still an evil side plot going on! And honestly, who doesn’t love an evil side plot?


	19. voice like an angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That song was beautiful.”

There was a popular theory - popular meaning Reggie and Alex had been saying it - that their water bucket had some kind of magic and whoever went to collect it would have a mysterious encounter. 

Luke didn’t believe it, and was completely prepared to just get the water for that night and head straight back.

What he did not expect was to hear the most enchanting melody he’d ever heard.

It wasn’t the most knightly thing in the world, but Luke was obsessed with music. It had been a constant in his life, he was always humming a tune, tapping a beat. 

He briefly learned how to play a few notes on the lute, but stopped having time after he became a knight. 

And then got sort of stuck in time for twenty five years. 

It had been a big thing in his house before he ran away to become a knight, and it reminded him of home. It was universal, and travelled with him wherever he went. 

And he was drawn to it, like a beacon. He followed the whispers of song upstream, pushing through the bushes. Eventually he came to a building, covered with shrubs and ivy, and started circling it, looking for a front door. 

The closer he got, the more he could distinguish about the music. 

It sounded like a keys instrument, complete with voice, though the words were muffled. 

Eventually, he found a door, hanging open, a soft light coming from inside. 

Letting the bucket drop from his hands, he made his way into the room, and saw the most beautiful girl playing at an ornate harpsichord. 

Luke couldn’t tell which was more breathtaking, the carvings and rich wood of the instrument or the girl, the curls of her hair flowing down her back, the soft smile she was making while her fingers flew over keys. 

He seemed to be in a trance, didn’t want to make any noises that might stop the music. So, he leaned against the wall, watching the girl with awe. 

Which was not the best move on Luke’s part. When the girl had finished the song, she opened her eyes and a strange boy staring at her is not something anyone wants. 

The girl let out a scream, Luke jumped up from where he’d been leaning, panicking, then she clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Who the hell are you?” She hissed at Luke. 

“Uhh- Luke. Luke Patterson. Hi?” Luke stammered, trying to smile in a friendly way. 

The girl looked unimpressed, glaring at him. 

“You don’t walk in unannounced on people like that!” 

“Sorry…um, what should I call you?” Luke asked hesitantly, trying to to overstep. 

“Julie,” she answered, “I should probably go now.”

“No, no wait, don’t go because of me,” Luke waved his hands, “That song was beautiful.” 

“Really?” Julie asked, her demeanour relaxing. 

“Yeah! I’ve never heard of it though, did you write it?” Luke asked. 

“My mom wrote it,” Julie said. 

“She must be a really good writer!” Luke exclaimed. 

“She was,” Julie replied. 

Oh. Was. 

Luke really needed to start avoiding the topic of mothers when it came to girls. 

“I-I’m so sorry,” said Luke, “Really.”

Julie shrugged, “It’s okay. Not like it was your fault.”

“But still, it must’ve been hard,” Luke said. 

“Yeah. You could say I had a hard time after she died.”

“What do you mean?” Luke asked. 

“I stopped music. Cut it out completely,” Julie said, My best friend helped me get back into music.”

“Can I thank this friend personally, because you’re so amazing,” Luke said, “You should never stop playing.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Julie said, “You’re a musical person, then?”

Luke grinned, “You could say that, yeah. I had a friend who loved music, once,” She looked like she was about to ask about his friend, and he didn’t want to get into the details of being a man out of time, so he changed the subject back to Julie. “So, that was you singing as well?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, it was,” Julie said.

Luke couldn’t help repeating himself, “Wow I mean- that’s, you’re, amazing!” 

“I’m sure you are too,” Julie said, now fully turned around on her stool. 

“I don’t know about that,” Luke said sheepishly. 

“You’ll have to show me some time,” Julie smiled at Luke, and Luke melted. 

In that moment, he was prepared to do anything for Julie within ten minutes of meeting her. 

Maybe that bucket really did have powers. 

“Yeah. Maybe,” was all he could muster for a reply. 

“I- uhh, sing sometimes as well,” he said, “Not as good as that but…” 

“I mean, I’ll be here pretty much every night I think,” Julie shrugged, “I don’t have much else to do.” 

“Huh?” 

“I’m not sure what I’m,” Julie gestured vaguely, “What I’m doing here.”

“Like, here in this music shack?” 

“I don’t think it would appreciate being called a shack,” said Julie, “But no, I mean here in the kingdom.” 

“You aren’t from the kingdom?” Luke asked. 

“Nope. Northern kingdom,” Julie took a breath, “I’m kind of the princess.” 

Luke was speechless.

“I knew that would make things awkward, just, forget I said anything,” Julie said. 

“No, it’s not- it’s not awkward, that’s cool!” Luke assured Julie. 

What was up with his friends and meeting royalty?

“So, you’re here for like, a secret mission?” Luke asked. 

“No. I’m just…” Julie searched for words, “Here.”

“Just here?”

“Just here.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re just here,” Luke said, “Because that means you won’t be leaving soon,” he looked at Julie, “Right? Unless you are. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not leaving soon,” Julie laughed, “It’s sweet you’re asking, though.”

“Well, I was just considering, seeing as I need to sing for you another time,” Luke shrugged it off, pretending that Julie calling him sweet hadn’t set off bells in his ears. 

“I look forward to it.”

“So…I should be getting water for my friends,” Luke rubbed the back of his neck.

“Get water?” Julie queried.

“Yeah. I’m in the uhh…knight training program,” he figured he should know the name of the thing he signed up for, but Julie didn’t seem to pick up on it. 

“Oh! Yeah! Flynn, the friend you should be thanking, told me about that!” Julie exclaimed. 

Luke made a mental note to not mention Julie was best friends with Flynn in front of Carrie. 

“Is it hard?” Julie asked. 

“I mean, it’s only been five days, and we haven’t done much yet. I think the first week is just them prepping us before we do anything serious,” Luke said. 

“It must be hard work.”

“We manage,” Luke said, “Still, I should probably...y’know.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, go get that water!” Julie gave Luke a thumbs up, which he awkwardly returned. The two smiled at each other, then Luke nodded at the door and headed out. 

Once he’d left the room, he punched the air in celebration and went to pick up the bucket. 

“Maybe you are magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not lie in my tags!! Julie and Luke!!! It took a LOT longer than anticipated, so sorry for the wait but, they’re here! 
> 
> Luke is immediately smitten, because that is something that should be a constant in every single universe, that boy is so far gone already. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading!


	20. no time to catch my breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is Luke embarrassed because the magic bucket actually does work?”

Alex was tired. 

Luke had come back predictably late, and, while Alex had won a bet because of it, it also meant he got a less-than-ideal amount of sleep.

Especially because they were doing sword practice the next day. 

Alex had never had trouble with swords. Sure, he’d preferred spears, but he was fine with swords. But apparently 25 years kind of put a damper on his abilities, because everyone was pretty evenly matched. 

The instructor went through basic positions, moves and footwork. Alex volunteered to be partnered with Carrie. Mostly due to the fact he thought it would be easier and, as mentioned, he was tired. 

What he didn’t expect was for her to pick it up so quickly, or be so vicious with her strikes. They hurt a lot, even if the blades were purposely blunt for training. 

“Ow,” he exclaimed, rubbing the side of his arm where Carrie had caught it in their last bout. 

Carrie shrugged, “Sorry but aren’t you supposed to be some kind of big deal? A true knight?” 

“I am, okay?” Alex said, “I’m just warming up. I’m going easy on you on purpose.” 

“Then stop,” scoffed Carrie. 

“I’ve won like four of our matches!” Alex protested. 

“And I’ve won five! Your point?” 

Alex groaned as he rolled his arm and repositioned himself. 

“You get the first move,” Carrie smiled at him. Alex grit his teeth and assessed his options. 

Alex feinted left, then lunged right, but he could feel how unbalanced he was the second he’d made a move. 

Carrie sidestepped out of the way and twisted, bringing her sword down and across the small of his back. 

“Six,” she said.

“Water break?” Alex asked, throwing his sword aside.

“Sure,” Carrie nodded, and they walked over to a big water basin. 

The sword fights took place in a large oval tent, a rather impressive tent in Alex’s opinion. He wondered how long it had taken to set up, with pillars holding it high up in the air. It had enough room for all the trainees to fit inside, plus extra space for them to move around and duel. 

Alex cupped some water in his hands and quickly lifted it up to his mouth.

“You aren’t gonna use a cup?” Carrie asked, slightly disgusted. 

Alex shrugged, “No point, no time.” 

“Well I’m gonna go look for a cup,” Carrie sighed and turned to search up and down a long table. 

Less than a minute later, Luke and Reggie had seen them take a break and decided to join, jogging over to Alex. 

“Hey!” Alex greeted them as they approached. 

“Hey man, we were just thinking about taking a break too,” Reggie said, leaning against the table. 

“Yeah,” Luke motioned at the fighting pairs, “It’s a lot tougher work than I remember.”

“Not to mention Luke’s head is somewhere else right now,” Reggie added. 

“What? No it’s not,” Luke said defensively. 

“Magic bucket,” Alex and Reggie said knowingly in unison.

“Oh, is Luke embarrassed because the magic bucket actually does work?” Carrie asked as she rejoined them.

“I’m not embarrassed!” Luke protested. 

“You were Mr Unbeliever yesterday,” Carrie reminded him, raising an eyebrow. 

“Okay, fine, I did have an encounter, but I am not embarrassed,” Luke said. 

“Knew it!” Reggie exclaimed. 

“Who were they?” Alex asked, grinning. 

“A princess,” Luke said hesitantly.

He looked like he expected more of a reaction, but Alex and the others were pretty much immune to the news of royalty right now. Which was a strange thing to think about. 

“She’s clearly captured your heart, if you lost to Reggie, so go on,” Carrie said. 

“First of all, how do you know that?” Luke asked. 

“I literally saw you. You tripped and fell.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Luke coughed, “Anyways, she was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. If angels were people and didn’t literally glow or have wings, they’d look like her.”

“That’s such a weird compliment…” Carrie muttered so Luke couldn’t hear, and Alex tried not to laugh.

Luke might’ve been eloquent at times, but the second someone flustered him, that all went. 

“And she was just out by the river?” Reggie asked. 

“No, I heard her singing so I followed the sound.”

“That’s…okay,” Alex said, nodding slowly. 

“And where was she?” Reggie pressed on. 

“Inside this huge, awesome hall, with more instruments than I’ve ever seen!”

Alex and Reggie both knew about Luke’s love for music, and they shared a look as he said this. 

“Oh, that might be where Flynn got her trumpet from,” Alex wondered aloud. 

Carrie’s eyes narrowed, “It wasn’t Flynn, was it?”

“Uhhh, no, no it was not,” Luke stammered.

Alex could tell Flynn was involved somehow, though. He suspected Carrie might too, two princesses were sure to know each other. 

“Her name was Julie and she’s the best person I’ve ever met.”

“A, I’m offended,” Alex started, “B, do you even know her last name?”

“Uhhh. No.” 

Alex gave Luke one of his ‘you didn’t think this through’ looks, but Luke ignored him and carried on. 

“Anyways, um, we got talking and I think I’m gonna go back and see her next time it’s my turn to get water!” Luke beamed. 

“Oh you poor soul. You’re smitten,” Alex smiled at his friend. 

“Says you,” Luke shot back, “How’s Willie doing?”

Willie had sent him a letter through a guard the other day. 

“He’s doing fine, actually,” Alex said, not rising to the teasing, “He said he’d let me know next time he can come and visit.” 

“That’s good! I like Willie,” Reggie said. 

“You like everyone,” Luke shook his head. 

“What’s wrong with that?” Reggie asked. 

“Nothing! ‘M just saying.” 

“The main point is, Luke has now been forced to see the true power of the magic bucket,” Alex said. 

“I still think it’s stupid,” Luke grumbled, “It is not magic.”

“Maybe we’re magic!” Reggie said. 

“Magic bucket, right?” 

“What?” Reggie asked, “Magic does exist, y’know.”

Alex opened his mouth, about to argue, and then realised he was currently twenty five years later in life than he was last week. Or, a week and twenty five years ago. It hurt his head to think about. 

“I still think it’s coincidental,” Luke shrugged. 

“I don’t hear you complaining, though,” Alex pointed out. 

Luke smiled sheepishly in resignation, and Reggie ruffled his hair. 

The four of them jumped when a knight suddenly appeared behind them, and overseer for today, yelling at them to get back to work. 

Alex picked up his sword and steadied himself, facing Carrie. 

“First to ten wins?” 

“That’s not fair, you’re already on six!”

“You better catch up, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think everyone could use a magic bucket in their life.
> 
> Also, is the magic bucket just a way of me defending the unlikeliness of them all meeting royalty?
> 
> Maybe. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


	21. everything has got a price

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re here now, and that’s what matters, isn’t it?”

“Hey, Willie, do you have a second?”

Willie heard his sister’s voice coming from behind him and stopped in his tracks where he’d been walking down the corridor. 

“Sure, what’s up?”

“How much time do you have?”

“What, like, right now?” Willie asked, “Maybe ten minutes? Caleb wanted to see me.”

Willie saw Flynn wince at Caleb’s name, and a hollow feeling began to grow in his stomach. 

“Flynn, what’s going on?” He repeated. 

“So…I don’t want you to freak out about this.”

“Flynn.”

“Julie overheard Caleb talking to some creepy mysterious voice and we think he killed King Feliz,” Flynn said in one breath, a flurry of words. 

“What?” Willie froze, “What- what do you mean? Julie, your friend from the other kingdom?”

Flynn gave him a sympathetic, almost worried, look, and Willie moved to sit against a windowsill. 

“Do you know for sure?” Willie asked, “I mean…is Julie sure what she heard?”

“Julie wouldn’t lie,” Flynn said. 

Willie held up his hands, “I wasn’t saying that. I just mean did she maybe misinterpret anything?” 

Flynn sighed, “I don’t know. Maybe? But we’re pretty sure.”

“How sure?”

“Like…at least ninety percent sure.”

“That’s pretty sure,” Willie mused, “What do you want to do about it?” 

Flynn shrugged, “Right now, nothing. I just thought you should know.”

“Okay,” Willie nodded, “Well, thanks for telling me. I’m gonna go try and not be a nervous wreck in our meeting now.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Flynn said, “I could’ve waited until after.”

“No, no,” Willie said, “I’m glad you told me.”

He smiled at Flynn, who returned it, and they sat on the windowsill for a while, soaking up the sun. 

Afternoons like this were Willie's favourite. When the whole air seemed golden, and birdsong floated on the gentle breeze that travelled through the castle. It was sunny, but not in the violent, heated way it was sometimes. 

On afternoons like this, he and Flynn used to go out into the meadow and just sit there. Or where the meadow used to be. 

Those afternoons would involve a lot of flower crowns and cloud-watching. They would make stories out of the shapes in the clouds, of adventure and romance, of dragons and fairies. 

Then the meadow got flattened, and those days stopped. Willie missed them more than words could say, and with the flattening of the meadow his life started to become more controlled. 

Which was one of the reasons his recent letters to Alex had been so exhilarating. He hadn’t been explicitly told not to share letters with a knight trainee, but he had a feeling it wasn’t looked upon fondly. 

And where Alex had seemed so nervous in the few meetings they’d had, he came truly alive in the letters, and Willie loved it. The way Alex’s words flowed together like poetry. 

He hated the fact he was so busy, and that the work he was busy with was so unimportant. He didn’t think he needed to spend days upon days stamping the king’s seal on documents, yet here he was. 

He knew the moment he got a free day, he wouldn’t spend one second of it inside the castle. 

“Shit, do you have to go?” Flynn exclaimed after a while, and Willie jumped up from his seat.

“Yes I do, I’m late, oh god,” Willie started to half-walk half-run down the corridor. 

“Good luck!” He heard Flynn call after him, and smiled softly. 

He knew exactly what he would face when he finally reached Caleb’s office and, just as he predicted, he was greeted by Caleb’s disapproving stare, the king standing on the other side of the desk.

“Take a seat, William.”

Willie swiftly moved to sit down in the chair opposite Caleb,“I’m so sorry, I lost track of time, I-” 

“It’s alright, you’re here now and that’s what matters, isn’t it?” Caleb said. 

Willie was taken aback slightly, “I suppose…” 

“It has been brought to my attention that our new guest from the Northern Kingdom hasn’t been…introduced to our castle properly.”

Willie wanted to say “And who’s fault is that?”, but figured it would get him in more trouble than it was worth, so he kept his mouth shut. 

“You want me to show her around?” Willie ventured, and Caleb smiled at him. 

“Precisely.”

“Shouldn’t someone have done that when she arrived?” 

“Yes, we should have,” Caleb said, “But I just couldn’t find the time. What with the tournament, things have been very busy, you know.” 

“Yeah, sure,” Willie shifted in his seat. 

He looked around the office, at the dusty books and broken quills and vials of various liquids. 

“You seem a bit…off today, William,” Caleb noted.

“W-what do you mean?” Willie tried to force himself to relax. Maybe Flynn should’ve waited until after this to tell him. 

“Jumpy. Nervous. You aren’t usually like this,” Caleb narrowed his eyes. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Willie said, with as much certainty as he could muster. 

“I think you do,” Caleb said. 

Willie gulped. He knew. But he couldn’t know. He didn’t know Julie knew, or that she’d told Flynn, or that Flynn had told him. 

Right?

“I’ve been,” Caleb moved a pencil into place on his desk, not looking at Willie as he spoke, “Informed that you spent some time down with the contestants the other day.” At the end of the phrase, Caleb lifted his head. 

“Is that correct?” 

“Yes,” Willie said. 

“And you did not request my permission?”

Willie said nothing. 

“I wouldn’t have prevented you from going, William, but it would be nice,” Caleb laughed dryly, “To know that you trust me.” 

“I do trust you,” Willie could hear the lie in his voice. 

“Then I’m sure you won’t mind telling me about any possible…improper correspondence going on?” 

“Of course not. If that were to be going on, I would tell you,” Willie said, trying his best to keep his voice calm and smooth. 

Caleb stood still, frozen, and Willie suddenly couldn’t believe he’d lied to Caleb like that. 

He was going to be in so much trouble. 

“Of course,” was all Caleb said.

Willie wasn’t sure how much Caleb knew, or whether he was just messing with him, but he stayed silent. 

“Just because I’ve heard rumours of four boys who entered the program,” Caleb said, “Four boys who should not have been allowed to. Who you can’t trust. I would hate to see you get hurt.” 

“What do you mean?”

Caleb smiled, and Willie’s heart beat faster. 

“Let’s just say they don’t belong here.” 

“If I see them, I’ll let you know,” Willie said slowly. 

“You could go there again sometime. I hear next week they’re starting horse riding practice, and ending it with a show! That might be a fun afternoon, eh?” Caleb said, “Take Flynn and…” Caleb searched for a name, “Julie, and go down to the horse tracks for the day.” He spread out his hands, “How about it?” 

“That…actually sounds nice,” Willie said softly, then imagined Alex in armour riding a horse, then tried desperately to imagine anything else to stop his face blushing. 

“And if you see anything suspicious, you can tell me,” Caleb said simply, his eyes searching Willie’s as if he might find information in there. 

Willie nodded, a little too fast, and moved to get up and out of the chair. He felt suffocated. 

“Am I done?” 

“Yes, you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick interlude from the magic bucket for some evil Caleb goings-on. 
> 
> Dante or Fuego probably told Caleb about these kids in the tournament, who are the strangest people, etc, etc and Caleb got suspicious...
> 
> How much does he actually know and how much is he bluffing? 
> 
> Who’s to say.


	22. even if we hit the ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh my god, horses.”

Sword training had lasted around a week. Understandably, because swords were the main weapon of choice for most knights. 

For that week, the days had been quite repetitive, the only variations happening at night.

Reggie saw Nick every other day, just like they’d arranged. Luke frequently visited the mysterious music hall, he always came back unable to stop smiling for hours. 

The boys decided their water bucket was to be kept strictly inside the tent, despite Carrie’s protests to that idea, in case one of the other kids got any bright ideas about the bucket. 

Willie, sometimes accompanied by Flynn, came down to ‘oversee the training’ often, but Reggie suspected he just wanted to talk to Alex. 

They’d said that the king had been locking himself away for most of the day. Reggie thought that would be a good thing, it meant Willie had more free time, but when they said it they seemed uneasy. Reggie hadn’t wanted to press them further. 

Across that week, they’d also learned more about the competition as a whole, and how the tournament would work. 

They would be assessed on an obstacle course that they’d have to complete in full armour, a horse race with jumps and turns, and multiple one-on-one sword duels until a winner was found. 

The twelve contestants who proved most skilled and capable would be granted knighthood. 

After that, Reggie suspected he’d get assigned to a station someplace or another. Whether going abroad, defending land, staying in the castle. He’d find out soon enough. 

That morning, however, they’d been all woken up before sunrise for the day’s activity. It had been raining for the first time in weeks, and there was a buzz of complaints as the contestants were dragged the entire way around the castle, right to the other side. They soon approached a huge stable.

The ceiling arched high up into the air, and a small circle in the roof was left open, the rain pouring down like a pillar in the middle. 

Reggie suddenly realised where they were going. 

“Oh my god, horses,” he whispered. 

“Horses?” Carrie asked, unimpressed. 

“Horses!” Reggie bounced on his heels a little, “I love horses!” 

Reggie’s family had owned a farm, and he’d spent many mornings and afternoons on a horse, just riding. It was where he felt most free, especially when things got…too much at home. 

On the main floor of the stable, trampled earth and hay covered a wide empty space. Rows of benches surrounded the sides of the building, rising in a step-like formation to create a seating area. 

They were told to sit down on the seats, and would be called up in groups of four to get on the horses. 

All in all, it was a very impressive arena, and Reggie hummed in anticipation.

“Where do you think the horses are?” He asked Alex. 

“Probably…” Alex pointed at where two stable workers were unlocking a set of big double doors, “In there.” 

As he said that, five impressive horses trotted out, all attached by a chain of rope and being led by another stable hand. 

Reggie beamed as he saw them coming. His smile faltered slightly when they weren’t the first to get called up, but he was willing to wait. 

They fell into easy conversation, occasionally watching if someone did something impressive or laughable. 

“Reggie, I bet you’re glad to see the horses, right man?” Luke asked, grinning at him. 

“It’s been so long…” Reggie said wistfully. 

“You like horses?” Carrie asked. 

“Do I like horses?” Reggie repeated, “I love horses! I had this one horse, a beautiful chestnut brown, called Walter.”

“Walter?” Carrie said flatly. 

“Walter!” 

“I remember Walter,” Alex smiled at the memory, “Didn’t he kick Luke off of him that one time?”

“Yup!” Reggie affirmed. 

“Wow, I love Walter!” Carrie said. 

“Hey!” Luke crossed his arms, “That’s not nice. And Walter was mean!” 

“Only to you,” Alex retorted. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Luke said, “Oh man look at that kid!” 

All four heads turned to look at the current rider, who jumped over a hay bale. It wasn’t particularly impressive, Reggie suspected Luke was just trying to change the subject, but he was content to watch the horse anyway. 

Eventually, Reggie and the others got called on. 

Reggie was handed to a large, black horse with a small white speck on its forehead. 

He slipped up and onto the saddle with ease, the familiarity of it so comforting. He could feel the warmth of the horse underneath him, and leaned forward to pat the neck. 

He admittedly zoned out while they were giving instructions, but didn’t think he needed them. 

When the stable hands cleared the space, Reggie gave a gentle nudge to his steed, and it started trotting. He eased it into a run, and in no time was leaping hurdles and turning corners as if he’d never stopped. 

When he was riding, he tuned out the rest of the room, so he hadn’t noticed Carrie repeatedly being met by stubborn disobedience from her horse, and was met with her complaints when his time was up and he dismounted. 

Alex and Luke had done well enough at their riding, Reggie knew they could ride if they wanted to, but didn’t as often as he did. 

“Will we be coming back?” Reggie asked, as they sat back down in the stands. 

“Probably,” Alex said as Carrie groaned, “I mean, this is a part of the final contest, right? They’ll give us more time to practice.”

“How are people so good at this?” Carrie asked, “That was so hard!”

“Most people here have probably ridden before,” Alex shrugged, “Don’t forget you’re an exception in this place. I think these others have been practicing for years.”

“I hate this so much,” she said, untying her hair. 

“We know,” Luke said. Carrie shoved him with her shoulder. 

“Why are you worried?” Reggie asked, “I thought you didn’t want to win the tournament anyway.”

“I don’t!” Carrie said. “I just…don’t like looking bad,” she muttered. 

“Well, practice does make perfect!” Reggie smiled. 

“Sure,” Carrie said. 

“Well, I think horses are a great idea,” Alex said, “Less physically demanding than swords, y’know?”

“Speak for yourself,” Luke said, “I miss swords already.”

“You literally have access to the facilities at night if you want.”

“I know that,” Luke shuffled in his seat.

“He’s too busy meeting his princess,” Carrie said. 

“Shut up.”

“He didn’t deny it,” Alex added.

“Shut up!” Luke exclaimed, “Anyway, I don’t need to practice. I’m already the best.”

“Damn, okay,” Carrie said, “Confidence is important…I guess.” 

“What? It’s true?” Luke looked around and seemed to be genuinely confused as to whether he’d done something wrong. 

The final group of four finished their run on the horses, and the groups were told that, for the first time since they’d started, they would have the afternoon off. 

A whoop of celebrations went up from around the stands, and they filed out of the stable. 

Reggie looked back at where the horses were being de-saddled and cleaned, and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t think I have ever said the word ‘horses’ in a row more than this chapter. 
> 
> It’s just a fact that Reggie loves horses in every universe, I think. Good for him!
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading!


	23. something’s looking like it’s changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is that allowed?”  
> “Probably not.”

“Hey, Reggie, wait up.”

Carrie called for Reggie. He’d just left the tent and was standing in the dark field, puddles dotted around in the grass. 

“Carrie?” He asked as she approached.

“Sorry I just,” Carrie took a breath, “I miss Nick. More than I thought I would, and I realised that I could just come with you and meet him. If that’s okay?” She added quickly onto the end. 

“Sure!” Reggie smiled, and Carrie looked relieved, “I mean, I can’t really stop you, but I’d let you come anyways!” 

“Thank you. Seriously,” Carrie said, “It means a lot.”

Reggie waved it off.

“I’m sorry to crash your date night, though,” Carrie said as they started to walk towards the trees. 

“Date- no it’s not- it’s not a date, I don’t…” Reggie trailed off. 

Carrie held up her hands, “Look I don’t know you as well, but Nick basically turned into a tomato last time I saw you two together,” she shrugged, “And you always spend the days you’re going to meet him talking about meeting him and the days you aren’t talking about how much you miss him.”

Carrie saw Reggie’s ears start to go red. 

“I just- we aren’t-”

“Look, it’s fine, I don’t mind. I think you’re good for Nick,” Carrie said, “I mean you’re both ridiculously optimistic, kept talking to me when I didn’t want you too, and clearly make each other happy.” 

At that Reggie’s shoulders started to relax. She hadn’t noticed he’d been so tense. Was he worried about what she thought of him and Nick? She barely knew the guy. 

“Okay. Okay that’s good,” Reggie nodded, “I mean, not that we’re, y’know, dating or anything,” his eyes suddenly widened, “Wait did you say Nick blushes around me? Are you sure? Do you think he likes me?” 

Carrie rolled her eyes, “Yeah. Obviously I can’t say for sure, but I’ve seen the way he acts around people he likes and…” 

“Seriously?” Reggie looked left and right and pulled Carrie into the bushes. 

“Oh, we’re doing this, okay?”

“Shh,” Reggie looked around one more time, “We’re getting close to the fence and I don’t want Nick to hear.”

“Alright?” 

“So, hypothetically, if I did like Nick-”

“You basically just told me you did.”

“Okay, fair point,” Reggie said, “But how would I, like, go about…with that?”

“You’re asking me?” Carrie asked, “My first crush was on my friend Kayla when I was like ten, and we kissed at a sleepover because we thought it would be funny, and I realised I liked girls but nothing happened and I’ve never dated anyone.”

“Huh,” Reggie paused, “Just you seem like you would know about all this stuff.”

“Yeah,” Carrie said, “Wish I could help you, but, no.” 

“D’you still like Kayla?” Reggie asked. 

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Carrie said, “But, no. I don’t.”

“Cool.” Reggie tapped on a tree trunk, thinking, “Do you like anyone else?”

“No!” Carrie said. 

“Suspiciously quick…” Reggie teased. 

Carrie knew he was only teasing, but couldn’t help feeling her temperature rising, “No, I don’t like anyone.”

“Alright then,” Reggie said, “We should probably get going.”

“Yeah.”

They travelled down the stretch of the winding path, and eventually came to the shabby wooden fence. Nick was already waiting there, they’d broken the fence so that there was a gap he could squeeze through. 

Carrie ran the last few meters, catching Nick with a surprise hug. 

“Carrie!” Nick exclaimed, laughing, “I was wondering how long it would take for you to break and realise you missed me.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Carrie muttered, pulling away from Nick. 

“Hey,” Reggie waved weakly at Nick, who smiled back. 

“Hi!”

“You look good!” 

“So do you!” 

Carrie suddenly regretted her decision to come. She hadn’t thought about the fact it would mean she’d be dealing with these two all night. 

“So, Carrie,” Nick brought the attention back to her. She wasn’t sure whether that was worse or not. “Is life in the castle everything you always dreamed?” 

Carrie laughed, short and sharp, “Yeah, I can never tell if we’re under constant surveillance or whether they don’t care about us at all!” 

“Hey, at least now it’s less mysterious. You know what’s going on,” Nick said. 

“Right, we now know the king neglects his children, the prince doesn’t really know what he’s doing and the princess is a pain in my ass!” Carrie said, “Extremely comforting to know.”

“You’ve met them?”

“Oh, the prince and princess come down to see us sometimes!” Reggie explained. 

“Is that allowed?” Nick asked. 

“Probably not,” Reggie said, “But they do it anyway. Not like anyone can tell them no, except their father, and he either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.”

“Should I be worried that the best way to describe the guy in charge is ‘doesn’t care’?” 

“Probably,” Carrie said. 

“And that’s a slightly different description of the princess than the one I’ve been told,” Nick raised his eyebrows at Reggie. 

“What?” Carrie snapped, “Reggie, what did you tell him?”

Reggie looked down at the floor, shuffling his feet. 

“That you two ooze chemistry,” he said eventually. 

“I’m actually going to kill you!” Carrie said incredulously. 

“Wait wait wait no I didn’t mean it!” Reggie moved to hide behind Nick. 

“If it’s any consolation, he said that about Luke and some girl too,” Nick offered. 

“I don’t even get original teases?” Carrie asked, offended.

“I’m not good at coming up with things, I’m a very nice person!” Reggie said defensively. 

“So you two do have chemistry?” Nick asked. 

“What?” 

“You never denied it,” Nick noted. 

“Because I didn’t think I needed to!” Carrie exclaimed, “We don’t…no.” 

Carrie hated the look Nick and Reggie shared after she said that. 

“We don’t!” 

“Okay, I believe you,” Nick shrugged. “I am curious about Luke’s princess, though.”

“Yeah, me too,” Reggie said, “All I know is she’s from the Northern kingdom and Luke is basically in love with her already.” 

“I used to not believe in love at first sight, but Luke is really testing that theory,” said Carrie, “God, it’s so disgustingly sweet.” 

“You guys should ask to meet her,” Nick suggested. 

“We did,” Reggie said, “He got all flustered and changed the subject.” 

“We’ll find a way somehow,” Carrie said, “We’ve just got to be persistent and annoying, and Reggie is the most persistent and annoying person I know. Uh, with love.” 

“Yeah!” Reggie smiled. 

“Well, I trust you guys to figure it out,” Nick said. 

“Oh!” Reggie gasped, “Complete change of subject but,” his smile widened, “We got to go on horses today!” 

“No way! You love horses!” Nick said. 

“Yeah!”

Carrie felt a little sad at the fact Nick knew more about Reggie than she did, considering she’d spent most of two weeks with him, but supposed they hadn’t really had time for a full personality breakdown. 

She was content to stand slightly to the side, listening to the two boys talk and occasionally adding in her input. 

It was true what she’d said earlier, she genuinely liked Reggie, and they seemed to make each other happy. 

And, although it was slightly painful for her to watch, the awkward little flirting stage they were in was kind of cute. 

She felt a lot lighter after seeing Nick. It was a small reminder that things hadn’t changed too much. And when she was done with all this, she’d have a home, and friends, to go back to. 

When she was done. When it got to the end of the month, she purposefully scuffed the tournament and left the boys. She’d never see them again. Ever. 

She’d never have to deal with Luke’s smug grin when he did something right, or the way he’d hum a tune the second it was silent. 

Reggie would never hold a one-sided conversation with her while she was doing something else, not deterred by her standoffish manner. 

She wouldn’t be able to have a conversation about that guy who did that dumb thing, or the fact their friends could be idiots sometimes but they loved them anyway with Alex. 

Wouldn’t see whether Alex finally got the courage to talk to that prince about a date. 

Wouldn’t hear that incredible song Luke swore he could play on the lute. 

Oh god, she was starting to care about them. 

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Nick. 

“And we’ll be able to do that when you come home, right?” 

“Hm?” Carrie hadn’t heard what he’d been talking about. 

“I just said, when you come home we can still send letters to the guys, right?” 

“Oh, right.”

She’d only talk to them through letters. 

Could she leave them? On top of that, could she leave Nick?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like ‘Is that allowed? Probably not.’ sums up this entire story pretty well...


	24. two worlds collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I would help you find them.”
> 
> “I’d like that.”

“Oh, you’re...here already.”

Julie froze as she entered the music hall. Luke Patterson was already seated at the organ, tracing over the keys but not playing any notes. 

The starlight filtering through the raindrop-stained windows made his eyes glitter like a clear sky. 

He looked up at her voice, then smiled. 

“Yeah, we kinda had a day off so…” 

“Cool.”

Julie supposed there was no point trying to hide the lute she’d gotten him anymore. 

“So, I got you something and I was going to put it somewhere and when you came it would’ve been awesome but I guess that won’t work anymore,” she sighed. 

“I mean, I can go out and like, run back in and pretend to be surprised if you want me to,” Luke said, his gaze had found the instrument behind her back. 

“No, it’s fine, really,” she held it out in front of her, “I got this for you.” 

Julie loved the way Luke’s dopey smile grew at the sight of the lute. 

“No. Way.” He enunciated each word, running over to look at it. “This is- it’s beautiful- I- how did you?”

Julie shrugged, “I called in a few favours.”

By that she meant Flynn knew a guy who knew a guy who knew an instrument maker, but she felt that sounded less impressive. 

Luke strummed a few open notes on the strings. 

“Thank you,” he said earnestly, looking into her eyes. 

His eyes were unfairly pretty, Julie thought. 

“It’s nothing. Really,” she said. 

“Maybe to you, but…” Luke pulled the instrument closer to him, “Just…thank you.” 

Julie’s smile faltered as she noticed Luke’s suddenly solemn expression. 

“You okay?” She asked, moving closer to him. 

“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah…”

“Somehow I’m not convinced,” Julie said, her voice soft. 

“I guess it’s just,” Luke shrugged and leaned back against the wall, “I can’t stop thinking about my family. We used to play music all the time.”

“You miss them?” 

“Yeah. I do. And it’s been so long,” he said, “I wonder what happened to them.”

Julie was confused at Luke’s wistful tone. 

“It’s only been a couple weeks, right?” She asked. Her concern grew when Luke closed his eyes, as if in pain. 

“I…okay this is gonna sound like I’m insane,” Luke started. 

“Okay…” Julie said with uncertainty.

“But I’m not. I promise.” 

Maybe it was the urgency in his eyes, the way they stared right into hers. But she believed him. Even when he talked about magic and dark rooms and the fact that, god, it’d been over twenty years. 

“And I just…my family, y’know? They never got an explanation.”

“Did you have contact with them before you…?”

“That’s the worst part,” he mumbled, “I didn’t write any letters.”

“What do you mean?”

“My mom didn’t want me becoming a knight. Said it was too dangerous, especially for someone my age. But I was just so restless, y’know?” Luke moved as if punching something in the air, “It felt like I was supposed to be doing something.”

“You had to go,” Julie murmured. 

“Yeah,” Luke breathed, maybe relieved she understood. 

“But the night I left, my mom and I- we- we had a fight,” he continued, “And I didn’t- I didn’t know how to make up.”

“I didn’t write to them. Didn't…y’know- say I was…okay, I…” he stammered, trying to find his words, “And then, as far as they know, I died and…”

“I miss them.”

“I’m sure they miss you too,” Julie said, “It sounds like they loved you a lot. That’s why fights like that hurt so much, I think.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, “I hope you’re right.”

“After the tournament maybe you can try and find them?” Julie suggested, taking his hand in hers instinctively. 

They both paused, looking down at their intertwined fingers. Luke moved his thumb over her knuckles, then they both looked up in unison, their eyes meeting. 

“I would help you find them,” she said, the weight of those words more than it seemed. 

“I’d like that,” he smiled. 

They stayed there for a while, standing against the wall, hands joined, the moonlight beaming in through the windows. 

To avoid thinking about Luke’s presence and warmth, Julie was running through his story. The more she thought about it, the more something felt like it was important. A tiny detail she’d missed, nagging at her mind. 

“Wait, who did you say sent you on the mission to the cave?” Julie broke the silence after a while. 

Luke sighed, “Caleb Covington.”

“And he was the one who told everyone you were dead?”

“That’s what Trevor said,” Luke almost spat the name out. 

“Maybe…” An array of possibilities was running through her mind. 

“What did you say the voice in the cave sounded like?” 

“It was loud. When it spoke, it felt like the whole room was shaking, and…it was strange, like, it had a faint hiss to it? Like when a cat gets angry,” Luke tried to explain. 

The voice Julie had heard wasn’t loud, but it did sound like a hiss. 

“I think,” Julie took a breath, “I think Caleb might’ve sent you there to kill you. Or- get rid of you.” 

“What?” Luke stiffened. 

“I overheard something the other day and-”

“What do you mean?” Luke repeated, “I know he sort of sucks, but he wouldn’t kill anyone, right? The king trusted him.” 

“I don’t know for sure, it’s just a theory,” Julie said. 

A theory that was coming together quite unfortunately. 

“What did you hear?” Luke’s voice had the edge of an emotion Julie couldn’t place. 

“I think Covington killed King Feliz,” Julie said, “Or, worked with someone to kill him? I’m not sure, I…” She trailed off. 

Luke stayed silent. 

“Do you believe me?”

“I do.”

He sighed, “What do we do, then?”

“What can we do?”

“Do the prince and princess know?”

“Yeah, they do,” Julie nodded, “Flynn wants us to wait until we’re more certain.”

“What do you want, Julie?”

Julie paused.

“I think she's right.”

“But isn’t he dangerous?”

“I don’t know!” Julie exclaimed, “I don’t know. And if he is, maybe that’s even more reason to not get involved.” 

Luke looked down.

“Okay,” he agreed, “Just, please be careful.”

“I will,” Julie said. 

“I mean it,” Luke said, “I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt.” 

Julie moved over to Luke, placing a hand on his arm. 

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at these two. They’re so smitten. They also can’t have nice things, so naturally I interrupted the romance with revelations and Evil Doings!
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


	25. stepping stones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Maybe I don’t know myself.”

A couple days after Luke had come back with a lute, which he stashed in his bag, padding clothes around it so it wouldn’t make any noise, Alex received a letter from Willie asking if he wanted to meet. 

Alex would never have refused in any circumstance, but Luke had taken to softly strumming notes every night while everyone else was trying to sleep, so Alex was extra glad to have an excuse to leave. 

It was just before sunset, so the slowly sinking sun cast a shine around the trees, the green leaves lined with gold. 

Alex pushed through the last of the bushes and saw him. 

Although he was dressed in a simple white shirt and black trousers, Alex thought he looked stunning. 

“Hey, Alex!” Willie called as he saw him, walking over to greet him. 

“Hi!” Alex responded, trying to put his arms by his side and look casual. “You got a day off, then?”

“Not exactly,” Willie smiled.

“Y’know I’m starting to think you're not the perfect prince you pretend to be. You just like breaking the rules,” Alex accused, keeping a playful tone. 

“Maybe,” Willie grinned, that smile that caused the edges of his eyes to crinkle up. Alex loved it. 

“But when you’re in a position where everybody expects you to be perfect,” Willie sighed, “It’s like- I have two sides of me. Prince me and real me.”

“I get that,” Alex said, “I feel like people don’t really see the real me unless they get to know me. I sort of clam up around new people.” 

“Yeah, I noticed,” Willie laughed, “The real you is perfect though.”

“You really think so?” Alex asked. 

“I do,” Willie replied. He stepped closer to Alex and grabbed his hand, “I also think what you need is a splash in the river.”

“Wait what?” Alex said, letting himself be dragged through the trees by Willie. 

They eventually reached a tiny stream, and Willie rolled up the cuffs of his trousers and stepped in. 

“Come on in!” he called to Alex, “It’s especially nice and cool at night!”

“Uhh, no, I think I’m good over here,” Alex responded, motioning at the dry bank he was standing on. 

“C’mon man,” Willie repeated, trying to pull Alex in. 

Alex obliged, a reluctant smile on his face, and took off his shoes. 

The second he made contact with the water, and icy thrill shot up his body. 

“Oh that’s- wow that’s really cold,” he said. 

“It’s nice, right?” 

Alex relaxed after the initial shock of the water. 

“It actually is,” he said, leaning down to move his hand through the water. 

“So, you come down here often?” Alex asked, moving back up to look at Willie. 

Willie shrugged. “Not really often, more like…on occasion,” he said. 

Alex nodded, “I like it.”

“So, what’s your deal?” Willie asked, “I haven’t heard much about you. Where’re you from?”

“Oh, uh, y’know. Around.” Alex said, “I live here in the city.” 

That wasn’t fully a lie. He had lived here at some point in his life, before his parents kicked him out and he turned to serving the crown.

“Oh, cool!” Willie said, “Your family come to the opening ceremony?”

“Oh, ah, haha, no,” Alex said, “No I don’t…I don’t live with them anymore.”

Willie seemed to sense the sadness surrounding those words, because he placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, “That must be hard.”

Alex tried to shrug nonchalantly, but heard his voice choking up, “It’s fine, really.” 

“I never exactly…knew my parents,” Willie said, “But I miss them sometimes. I don’t really know how.” 

“Oh, right, the king isn’t your real dad,” Alex said, remembering from one of his modern-day debriefings with Carrie. 

“It’s common knowledge then?” Willie asked. 

“Uhhhh, I don’t- I guess?” Alex said, “No one really cares though,” he added on quickly, “Like, no one hates you for it or anything. It’s totally fine. Obviously not fine, I mean, it’s not good for you. I’m gonna stop talking now.” 

“No, it’s fine, I get what you mean,” Willie said, “I appreciate the sentiment.” 

“Okay,” Alex smiled awkwardly. 

“I guess we both have rough history with family,” Willie said. 

“Yeah,” Alex responded, “I think I’ve got a new family now. A better one,” Alex thought of Luke and Reggie, who had become his family over the years. And he thought of Carrie now too, like their grumpy older sister, which was strange, but not in a bad way. 

“Your friends from the training thing-y?” Willie asked. 

Alex hummed an agreement. 

“That’s awesome, they seem really nice!” Willie said. 

“I have family, don’t get me wrong,” he continued, “Flynn is my sister, both legally and in the ‘close bond’ sort of way. But it can get kinda lonely, y’know? It’s just us.”

“Maybe you guys can join my family?” Alex asked, “If you want, I mean, you don’t have to.”

“That would be amazing,” Willie said, “I just don’t know how…” 

He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject, “You know most rivers lead to a bigger source of water? Like this one could lead to a lake, or even the ocean.”

“Woah really?” Alex ignored the fluttery feeling in his stomach after that rather serious talk and peered down the stream, as if trying to see how far it went. 

“It’ll be super far away, but, yeah!” 

“Oh, right,” Alex coughed, dropping his gaze into the water. 

“So what stops fish from the sea swimming all the way up here?” Alex asked. 

“They’re either too big or…I think I read something about the water being different?” Willie said, “It’s interesting really.” 

“You know a lot about…things, huh?”

“Yeah,” Willie said, then paused. 

“I’d love to see the ocean someday.” 

“I’d love to see the ocean with you,” Alex said softly. 

“Maybe we can both go,” said Willie, “Just two guys with nowhere they have to be. Going wherever they want. Maybe even reach the edge of the earth.”

Alex looked into Willie’s eyes then. He wanted him to know he was fully serious when he said.

“And I would follow you to the ends of the earth.” 

“That’s a long way to go,” Willie replied. 

“You’re worth it,” Alex said. 

He wondered if that had been the wrong thing to say, because Willie’s eyes widened and he stayed still for a moment. 

“Are you sure?” He asked. 

“I think so,” Alex said, “Like you said earlier, the real you is perfect.”

“You don’t know the real me,” Willie shook his head.

“I think I do,” Alex said. 

“How could you? It’s only been a couple weeks. No one knows the real me,” he sighed, “Maybe I don’t know myself.” 

“We can try and figure it out together?” Alex held out his hand. 

Willie took it and they laced their fingers together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Willex!!! They deserve the entire world and more, but because this is a story they won’t get it...yet


	26. finally breaking through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t go getting a bigger ego than you already have.”

They’d been horse riding for six days now, and Carrie still hadn’t gotten any better. 

She knew she didn’t need to be the best at horse riding, but she would never be the worst at anything she did. That was just how it was for her. 

So, after four days of ignoring the boys’ advice and insisting she’d get better without any additional practice, she gave up and went to use her free time riding horses. 

There was this one horse, a beautiful, dappled grey colour, that she consistently used. And she liked to believe she was…on her way to making progress. 

“We can do this,” she whispered, leading the horse out into the main section. 

She went back to look for equipment, saddles, stirrups and the like, but when she came back she wasn’t alone anymore. 

“Hello?” Carrie called over to the figure standing by her horse. 

“Hey, princess,” a familiar voice answered. 

Great. 

“Oh. You.”

“Yup, me,” Flynn responded. 

“What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be, like, busy?” 

“Maybe, I don’t know. I just figured I’d come down and see the horses,” Flynn shrugged, “Who do you think they belong to?”

Carrie stopped. She’d just thought the horses were there. She hadn’t considered the fact the royal family technically owned everything on the grounds. 

“Uh, they said- they said we could use them whenever we wanted,” Carrie said quickly, “Just in case you were…”

“Relax, I’m not gonna report you, or something,” Flynn said. 

Carrie strode past her to start attaching the saddle onto the horse. 

“You’re doing that wrong,” Flynn said from over her shoulder. 

“I know that.” Carrie had not known that. 

She changed what she was doing but heard Flynn sigh from behind her.

“Alright, move out the way,” Flynn moved to stand by Carrie’s shoulder, reaching up to adjust the saddle. 

“What’re you doing?” Carrie asked. 

“Trying to help you, for some reason,” Flynn answered, her hands fiddling with the straps, “Go pat the horse or something while I do this.”

“How do you know how to attach saddles?”

Flynn sighed and turned around, “It’s kind of in the whole ‘princess’ deal. Riding horses is like…a thing people expect you to do.”

“I guess,” Carrie said, “I would’ve thought you’d have people to attach the saddles for you, though?”

“Oh, yeah, no,” Flynn said, “No, people do things for my brother. I’m an afterthought.” 

She pulled the final buckle tight with more force than previously as she said that. 

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Carrie said, in an uncharacteristically soft voice. 

“I got used to it,” Flynn said, wiping dust off her hands, “I’ll leave you to it, then. Be careful putting them away.” 

Flynn had walked halfway to the door when Carrie did something that surprised herself. 

“Wait.”

Flynn stopped. 

“You said you know how to ride horses?” 

Flynn turned around, “Yeah, and I do.”

“Could you-” Carrie hesitated, “Would you mind staying to give me a few pointers?”

Flynn’s face was shadowed from where she stood, but Carrie thought she smiled. Maybe Carrie hoped she smiled. She didn’t know why. 

“Sure,” Flynn said, “Only because you asked so, so nicely.”

When she reached the horse again, who’d been standing very politely still the entire time, she motioned for Carrie to climb up onto the saddle. 

“So, first do I-”

Carrie was interrupted by Flynn climbing up onto the saddle as well, sitting behind Carrie. Sparks blossomed from where Carrie could feel Flynn against her, and she turned to the front to hide her face, which felt bright red. 

“Is that safe for the horse?” Carrie asked. 

“This one? Yeah, they’re one of the strongest,” Flynn said. “Oh, we won’t be able to go fast or anything, though,” she added. 

“Okay,” Carrie nodded. 

“So, what’re you having trouble with?” Flynn asked. 

“Everything,” Carrie laughed bitterly, “They explained everything in like two seconds and then told us to figure it out.”

“And you’ve never touched a horse before, I assume,” Flynn said. 

“Hey! You’re right, but I don’t appreciate the assumption.”

“You flinched when the horse snorted earlier!”

“It was loud!” Carrie protested. She heard Flynn giggling behind her. 

“Okay, so how would you start to ride it?” Flynn asked. 

“Um.” Carrie gave the horse a light nudge with her feet. “Like that?”

“Oh boy, we have a lot of work to do.”

She was acutely aware of Flynn’s arms reaching around her to grab the reins and place them into Carrie’s hands. 

“You might wanna try using these,” she said.

“I know that,” Carrie scoffed, but her usual mean tone was slightly ineffective when they were practically holding hands around the reins. 

“You sure?”

“Yes!” 

“Alright then,” Flynn said, “So then use the reins to steer. Gently guide the horse where you wanna go.”

They ran through basics, like how not to fall over and how to actually get your ride to move, but then Flynn dismounted and for some reason trusted Carrie to start moving faster by herself. 

It went horribly. Okay, that was an exaggeration. It went fine, but Carrie still wasn’t where she wanted to be. She hated to admit it, but Flynn was good at this, and she’d learned a bit. 

They also hadn’t argued the entire time. A few jabs here and there, but they weren’t serious. 

Carrie liked it. 

After leading the horse back into the stable and locking up, they sat down on the floor, backs against the wooden stable wall, the flames in the sconces burning dim and orange. 

“So, why are you here?” Flynn asked after a while. 

“To…practice horse riding?”

“No I mean,” Flynn turned her head to look at Carrie, “Why are you here in the tournament. From everything you’ve told me, you have no interest in any of this stuff.”

“Oh,” Carrie paused, “My friends really wanted to do this, but they would’ve…struggled by themselves. So I came too.”

“Huh,” Flynn said, “That’s…actually kinda sweet.”

Carrie smiled, “Thanks.”

“I said kinda,” Flynn reminded her, “Don’t go getting a bigger ego than you already have.”

Despite the mean, maybe-too-accurate words, Flynn said the whole thing with a tiny smile, but to Carrie it seemed like the biggest thing in the world. 

“Afterwards you’re just going to go home, then?” Flynn guessed. 

“I…” Carrie stopped. “I don’t know.”

Flynn looked taken aback, “That’s not what I thought you were gonna say at all.”

“I just…I kind of like them,” Carrie said. 

“Well, they’re your friends, so I’d hope you do,” Flynn remarked. 

“It’s more complicated than that,” Carrie said, “It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m all about complicated, let’s hear it,” Flynn said. 

“Really?”

Flynn nodded, so Carrie explained. 

“Seriously?”

“I know it sounds-”

“A magic cave? That’s awesome!”

“You…believe it? Just like that?” Carrie was sceptical. 

“Listen my best friend told me she heard a magic shadow voice in my own house the other day and a secret, treasonous plot, at this point I’m good to go with anything.”

Carrie laughed, incredulous, “Being frozen in time is slightly bigger than a weird voice.”

“Is it?”

Carrie didn’t have a response to that, so she changed the direction. 

“Anyway, that’s why I’m thinking…I might stay.”

“I think you should,” Flynn said simply. 

“Really?”

“It sounds like those boys mean a lot to you,” Flynn said, “And if the questing, sword-swinging life is appealing to you, I think you should go for it.”

“I can barely ride a horse,” Carrie said, pulling her knees up, “I don’t know shit about weapon terminology, I couldn’t light a fire or- or camp out on a battlefield.”

“Hey, there’s more to knighthood than horses,” Flynn said, “And you don’t need to know what the weapons are called, just how to hit people with ‘em!” Flynn looked at her, more serious than Carrie had ever seen her before. 

“The choice is yours, but if you want to stay, I know you’d do amazing.”

“That’s the…only nice thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“It’s not the only nice thing I’ve thought about you though.”

“What?” Carrie shot up, banging her head on a hanging chain. 

“What?” Flynn shot back, looking unbothered and standing up, brushing hay off her trousers. 

“And, if you did stay, I’d get to see more of your perfectly annoying face.”

“I think you mean annoyingly perfect,” Carrie corrected her. 

“I take back everything nice I just said,” Flynn said flatly. 

“No no no, wait,” Carrie said, moving up to join Flynn. 

Flynn laughed, “See you around, princess.” 

Carrie watched her leave, leaning against a stable door. She looked at the horse from earlier, who’d stuck their nose over the door and was at eye level with Carrie. 

“What’re you looking at?” She trained her face back into the usual look of indifference, but the trace of a smile still danced around her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Progress!!! Wow!!!
> 
> Also, I can’t believe it’s been a month since I started this, and it’s definitely a lot longer than I’d originally planned, but that’s alright! I’ll get to where I’m trying to go at some point or another.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


	27. home is where my horse is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is assassination a regular problem over here, then?”

“I’m sorry you’re going to have to go through this,” Flynn said to Julie sympathetically. 

Apparently, no one had thought it’d be a good idea to inform Flynn that she would be spending her afternoon dressed up and staring at kids on horses doing basically nothing. 

They had an arena for jousting, horse shows and the like, but it was barely used. 

It was an open green, with fences and hurdles and lines marked in the ground for lanes. 

All terribly elaborate, Flynn thought. 

Flynn also wondered why this year was special, seeing as it hadn’t been used in her lifetime, but Caleb’s stormy look all day deterred any questions. 

Not that she particularly cared about his undoubtedly dark, shadowed reasons for setting it all up, but the colourful bunting and crowds of people not usually allowed to set foot on the castle grounds was very out of character for the king. 

She could tell Willie, who came out as well, was also uncomfortable with the situation and, she’d found out, had known about this all along and just forgotten to tell her. 

Julie also tagged along with them, even though Flynn insisted she didn’t have to, and was picking up on the general mood of not enjoying things. 

No one else seemed uneasy, however, and it made for a weird contrast. 

“It’s fine,” Julie assured her, “I wouldn’t let you do this by yourself. Besides, it looks kinda fun!” 

She motioned to where food had been set out on tables and people buzzed around them, talking and celebrating and eating. 

It was more than Flynn had ever seen before in her life. 

“Where do you think Caleb ran off to?” Willie asked from Flynn’s right. 

She shrugged, “Probably to go make sure no one tries to assassinate him or something.”

“I know you’re kidding, but the security at the front gate looked pretty tight when I saw it,” Willie said. 

“Is assassination a regular problem over here, then?” Julie asked. 

“Once every blue moon someone tries,” Flynn said, as casually as she could when discussing attempted murder. 

Not that it wouldn’t be justified, but still. 

“You don’t get that where you’re from?” Willie asked. 

“I think it has happened? Not under my dad, though,” Julie said. 

“Don’t you run things more like a government than a monarchy, though? And like…your leadership is actually competent and looks after people?” Flynn asked. 

“I guess,” Julie said, “It just never really came up.”

They were interrupted by Caleb striding across the grass. 

“Here he comes,” Willie whispered. 

“Children,” Caleb forced an overly bright smile, “I hope you’re enjoying the weather this fine day.” 

“Yeah, it’s great!” Julie said through a smile. 

“We’re all…havin’ a great time!” Willie gave a halfhearted thumbs up. 

“Good, good,” Caleb paused, “Willie, you know where the box we’ll be sitting in is. I’ll meet you all there when it starts. Don’t be late.”

They watched him leave, the branches of the tree they were standing under rustling in the breeze. 

“This is gonna be such a long afternoon,” Flynn grumbled. 

“It can’t all be bad,” Willie said, playfully elbowing Flynn, “We’ll recognise some of the riders.” 

“Oh yeah, isn’t your boyfriend here?” Flynn teased. 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Willie restrained a smile. 

“Whatever you say,” Flynn smirked, “But you do send him letters everyday.”

“Because he’s great!” Willie said, “And I’ll bet he wins the tournament!” 

“No way,” Julie said, “Alex has nothing on Luke.”

“Oh your mysterious music friend I got an instrument for?” Flynn asked. 

“Yeah,” Julie said, “And he’s a great knight.” 

“You emphasised ‘great’ weirdly,” Flynn said. 

“What? No I didn’t.”

“Almost like you don’t fully believe it,” Flynn hummed. 

“Psssh, okay,” Julie crossed her arms. 

“Well, I’m voting that that kid Reggie wins,” Flynn said, “Apparently he loves horses.”

“Oh, really?” Willie asked, “Where’d you hear that?”

Flynn hadn’t told anyone about the other night with Carrie, when they’d talked for hours, and didn’t plan on mentioning it. 

She shrugged, “I think you mentioned it while ranting about your deep infatuation with Alex one time.”

Yeah, she felt floaty and lightheaded and a lot happier when she left, for some reason, but that didn’t mean anything. 

“Shut up!” Willie said, “I don’t rant about him.”

“Speak for yourself,” she said. 

“Well, whatever, we’ll see soon enough,” he conceded. “We should get going, I think things’ll start to move in a few minutes.”

Flynn had noticed the crowd starting to get restless, the anticipation in the air a sure sign of something starting soon. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, “Let’s go.”

“You guys know the way to our seats?” Julie asked, walking in between them as they walked across the green. 

“We’ll figure it out,” Willie waved it off, “It’ll be the ones with the fancy decorations.”

Ten minutes later and they were seated, Julie and Flynn on one side, slightly behind Caleb, and Willie seated right next to him. 

Caleb watched the kids with a stony face as they paraded on horses, up and down the field, one by one, doing jumps, getting scored by the panel of judges off to the left. 

Flynn nearly fell asleep in the warm afternoon sun, but was jerked awake by a sudden movement from Caleb. 

“Who is that?” Caleb wondered aloud, to no one in particular. 

Willie looked down quickly, uncomfortable. 

Flynn peered around him to look at the rider. 

It was Alex, but no one was going to tell Caleb that. 

“Hello?” Caleb repeated.

“Why would we know who that is?” Flynn spoke up. 

Caleb looked around, glaring at her. 

“You two have been taking little trips down to the participants,” he said, looking pointedly at Willie, “I thought you might’ve exchanged names.”

“Yeah? Well, we didn’t.”

Flynn knew she was crossing a line being so informal with her speech, but she wanted to divert the attention away from Willie. 

Willie looked back at Flynn, panic blazing in his eyes. 

She mouthed at him, ‘It’s fine’, but she wasn’t so sure. She wondered if her eyes looked as worried. 

“There should be three others,” Caleb said, his breath low. 

Flynn watched the others come out. Luke, Reggie, Carrie. 

Caleb grew more agitated with each one, but Flynn saw a change in his expression when Carrie came out, like something didn’t quite add up. 

Caleb narrowed his eyes, then snapped at a guard standing by. 

“Find out who that is. Immediately.” He growled. 

Flynn’s heart started racing. She felt Julie squeeze her hand, and she returned the pressure. 

Of course they would’ve been the last four, she thought, it’s just their luck. 

Flynn remembered what Carrie had told her, about the boys being sent to a cave. 

That would’ve been the same time as Caleb became king. 

Shit. Some pieces were starting to come together in a picture Flynn really didn’t want to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, admittedly, not much happened in this chapter, but unfortunately steps have to be taken to set up Plot Things. 
> 
> As always, I appreciate you reading!


	28. won’t let me go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I want to keep magic alive.”

“You did so great today!”

Nick surprised Reggie with a hug, wrapping his arms around him and catching him off guard. 

“You were there?” Reggie asked once he was let go.

“Of course, wouldn’t miss watching you win!” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t come and find you,” Reggie said apologetically, “We were told to stay in this little side room the whole time.”

“The whole time?”

“Yup!” 

“Well, in any case, I’m so proud of you, Reg!” Nick exclaimed, “No one else stood a chance.” 

“Aw, I didn’t- y’know, anyone could’ve done it.” Reggie shrugged. 

“Yeah, but only you did,” Nick reminded him, then caught himself, “I don’t know if that made sense but. You get what I mean.”

“Don’t worry, I do,” Reggie beamed.

“Ah, okay, good, um,” Nick gestured vaguely, “Are you guys doing anything tonight? Like, for celebration?”

“I think some kids set up a fire?” Reggie said.

Nick hesitated. 

“A safe one…?” He double checked.

“Oh, haha, of course,” Reggie reassured him, “I think…”

That was not comforting, but Nick had no choice but to trust that none of his friends would burn themselves that night. 

“Are the others going?” Nick asked. 

“Yup!”

“Oh, you should go with them,” Nick said. 

“What? I just got here,” Reggie said, confused. 

“I know, but you can see me any night. This’ll be fun,” Nick paused, “You should go have fun.”

“I wanted to see you,” Reggie said. His voice made Nick’s heart twist. 

“And I like seeing you,” Nick said warmly, “But I really think you should go have fun.”

“You’re sure?” Reggie asked. 

“Mhm,” Nick quickly kissed Reggie’s cheek, “Go.”

“I- uhh- yes, yep, I am going!” Reggie said, waving at Nick as he walked away towards the tents, “See you in a couple days!”

“See you in a couple days,” Nick murmured. 

He wondered how it would feel when the tournament ended. When he’d have to say goodbye. 

Nick wasn’t one to hold onto pointless relationships, friends or more, but it would still hurt. 

He knew it would hurt for a long time, though. 

Once Reggie had fully disappeared from right, Nick was left alone with the trees and the stars. 

“That was young Reginald, correct?” 

A voice startled him from somewhere in the shadows, and Nick looked around desperately for the source. 

From the darkness, a tall man, dressed in dark purple approached him. 

“You two are friends?”

“Who are you?” Nick asked warily after he reoriented himself. 

“You may have heard of me,” the man said, “Call me Caleb.”

Caleb as in the king. Nick’s breath caught in his throat and he stammered out the next words. 

“Hi. Nick. I didn’t mean to be on your property, sir, I’ll just leave,” Nick turned to go but Caleb gestured for him to stop. 

“I admire the connection you two have,” he said, “You must be close.”

“Actually we didn’t meet too long ago,” Nick replied. 

“Oh?” Caleb’s face hardened. 

“A-about three weeks,” Nick was thrown off by the sudden change in Caleb’s mood.

“And where did you meet?”

Why did the king need to know all this stuff?

“Just in town,” Nick shrugged, “I should really be going-”

“I’m interested in helping you,” Caleb said harshly. 

“What do you mean, help me?” Nick asked slowly. 

Caleb drawled slowly, like he had all the time in the world. 

Nick would’ve rather been walking home by then, but he was curious. 

“I mean you look like the sort of young boy to appreciate a proper education.”

“What does that mean?” Nick flared. He didn’t know if that was some sort of remark on his upbringing. 

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean,” he stopped. “I meant a further education. One not easily accessible.”

“I still don’t follow,” Nick said. 

“I’m offering to teach you magic,” Caleb said flatly, as if it had been some kind of obvious answer. 

“I think you might’ve caught the wrong guy,” Nick declined the offer, moving to climb back over the fence. 

“I don’t think so,” Caleb stopped him quickly. “I can sense it. Deep within you.”

Nick snorted and Caleb raised an eyebrow. 

“Something funny?”

“Not at all sir,” Nick covered hastily, “Just, it sounds a bit…unbelievable, is all.”

“Well you better start believing,” Caleb looked at him hard. “The offer will be open for a day. Come to the front entrance of the castle tomorrow, at midday. Tell my men who you are and they shall let you in, bring you to me and we’ll commence immediately.”

“Why?” Nick asked, suddenly suspicious. “Why would you pick just anyone up off your front lawn?”

“I told you, I can sense it.”

Then Caleb sighed, relaxed his face and suddenly looked much older in the pale moonlight. 

“I’m getting old, Nicholas,” he said, a lot softer than the grand words Nick had just been listening to, “I need someone to pass this gift onto, or it’ll die. I want to keep magic alive.”

Then, Caleb stared right into Nick’s eyes, pale and clear. 

“Will you help me do that?” 

Nick was stunned. He stood there unable to speak, lost in thought. 

“You don’t need to give me your answer now,” Caleb held up a hand, “It’s late. You probably need to go.”

The king cast one glance at Nick before melting into the shadows, leaving him standing alone like before, speechless. 

Magic? 

Nick had always been taught you needed an innate ability or something. 

Maybe the king knew something about magic everyone else didn’t? Nick wouldn’t be surprised. The general public’s magic knowledge was lacking. 

But why him? That, Nick didn’t have an answer to. 

Did Caleb recognise Reggie? He was certainly curious about him. Maybe Nick would ask Caleb about it tomorrow.

He didn’t know when he’d made up his mind, but he was going to that meeting. 

It wasn’t for destiny, or fate, or because he felt it was his calling, but he’d never forgive himself if he didn’t go. 

He was too intrigued. And maybe he could help people with magic, since he’d never be a knight. 

And if he worked at the castle he could see more of Reggie, and Luke and Alex. 

Carrie would be going back to town though. 

Nick would visit her, he decided. Or ask Caleb if he could still live in town. He didn’t know the lodging details of magic apprentices. 

From either fear or anticipation, he didn’t know which one, but a buzzing coursed through him as he went home that evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The law of magic in the universe DOES make sense, okay?? Trust me, it makes sense in my head and hopefully will to you guys soon? We’ll see...
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading!!


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